Tottenham Hotspur Ladies FC -

First Team match reports 2006-07

Spurs started the game very slowly and were not getting into their passing game as quick as we would have liked.  It was not until mid way through the first half that we started to dominate Horley Town in terms of possession.  It started with Carly Snell making a fine run down the right flank, which lead to her putting a great ball into the box which fell to Katie Taylor, who somehow managed to blast her shot over the bar.  Not allowing her head to drop, she continued to put in a real team performance battling hard for every ball.  Shortly after that missed chance, Chanel Breen found herself in space just out side the box.  She then heard me shout, "Top corner" and to my surprise she did exactly that with a sweetly curled shot into the top corner to put Tottenham ahead. 

With literally minutes left of the first half, Spurs went looking for a second goal which saw us getting caught on the break.  Horley passed the ball out wide, then played it into the box, where it bounced up onto Kelly's shin and flew into the back of our net to make it 1-1 at the interval. 

Horley Town came out second half just as we expected, all guns blazing we managed to with stand the early pressure but some how found ourselves 2-1 down.  Changes were made in order to get something out of the game Jade Perrin came on for the injured Katie who suffered a nose-bleed when she was struck in the face challenging for the ball, Kat came on for Geena to add some fresh legs in the middle of the park.  

Mid-way through the second half, Kelly sustained a head injury, which saw her suffer from concussion for about five minutes, but in true Kelly style she battled on and put in some brave last ditch tackles.  Spurs just would not let their heads drop and kept on pushing for the equaliser.  Chanel hit a shot which saw the Horley Town keeper make a fine save tipping the ball round the post.  From the resulting corner, Carly made a run to the edge of the box and hit a superb volley which sailed just over the bar.  

Shadine Mars kept on getting hammered by the Horley defence, which meant she had a few missed chances.  She could have easily scored a hat-trick, but, to her credit, she showed real resilience and managed to score her last chance by rounding the goalkeeper and slotting home for the much deserved equaliser with only a few minutes left on the clock. 

Well done girls; keep creating those chances.  It's nice to know that we have have goals in the team.  Stick to our game plans and we will have a successful season.

Hendon  1     Woking  1    
Bexhill United  1     Long Lane  3    

Firstly, I would just like to thank two players for showing up, despite their injuries, to support the team.  Rosi Webb and Geena Gordon both showed first class attitude and set an example as real team players.

The first half was filled with a lot of half chances for both teams although we had the lion's share, but the teams were deadlocked 0-0 at the break with the girls having given everything, but looking around at their faces I knew they still had a little left in reserve.  So we went out and started the second half very positively, still sticking to our game plan.  Once again our defence was very solid and organised hence the clean sheet, along with the goalkeeper who looks to be getting better with every game.

Midway through the second half we had to make some tactical changes as we just could not break down the Horley Town defence who seemed to well organised, so Jendayi Castillo came on for Katie Taylor to add some pace and power up front as Katie had given it her all.  Having Jendayi on kept the opposition's defence on their toes which allowed Chanel Breen to join the attack to make it three up front which took some of the attention from Shadine Mars.

Once again it was a battle that we wanted to win.  As the game entered into the final ten minutes, it was looking like another draw, which Spurs did not deserve as we were playing the better football. Just as I predicted, Chanel received the ball in the final third, played a sweet through ball over the top of the Horley defence, which Shadine latched onto to find herself facing a one on one with the goalkeeper.  After taking on board what had been said to her at the the interval, Shaz showed great composure to slot home what looked like the winner with only a few minutes to go.

I would just like to thank the girls for putting in 110% effort and this is just the start for us.  Now we can push on from
here and all those games that we know we should be winning, we will win now we have the belief.  Onwards
and upwards for us now ... let's climb that league table and have good go at the cup.  Every single player that
played this game can be extremely proud of themselves.

DARREN JOHNSON

Long Lane  0     Gravesend & Northfleet  3    
Woking  2     Lewes  1    
London Women  2    Hendon  0    
Bexhill United  1     Crowborough Athletic  5   

Spurs hosted Petts Wood in the London County Cup Third round at Fred Knights in what turned out to be an epic cup tie.

Petts Wood started the game much more brightly than Spurs  and they had scored two goals within the first 20 minutes.  Spurs failed to learn from the first goal, as the second one was identical to the first.  The visitors played one ball over the top with their striker one on one with our goalkeeper on both occasions and to their credit they took them well.

For the majority of the first half the Spurs Ladies were unrecognisable from the way they have been playing over past few weeks and they did not look like a team who wanted to win the match.  There was limited communication from some players and there was a lack of players sticking to their tasks. 

Apart from a few half chances Spurs did not impose themselves on the game and they went into the break 0-2 down.

With half the team performing and the other half being carried I made some changes in terms of personnel and tactics.  It seemed to have the desired affect because it was a different team that went out in the second half.  We dominated the game with good passes and teamwork and it started with a through ball from Lucy Auguste into Chanel Breen down the left, who cut back onto her right foot to cross the ball to Samrawit Bereket, who could only manage to shoot the ball straight at the goalkeeper but that was a sign of things to come.

With only ten minutes left, Lucy was once again instrumental in the great come-back.  She unleashed a defence splitting pass for Shadine Mars to latch onto it with her blistering pace, but her shot was saved by the goalkeeper at the near post.  This only served as a motivation for the team, as they could sense that they were getting closer. 

Straight after that, they were at it again.  This time Shadine slotted the ball home to make it 2-1 with only a few minutes left.  Just as it looked like Petts Wood were about to win the match, Spurs had one last push, which saw Shadine break down the defence with that lightning pace of hers.  It lead to the Petts Wood defender bringing her down in the box.  Lucy then coolly converted the resulting penalty kick to level the scores at 2-2 right at the death. Shortly after that the final whistle and the game went into extra time.  No goals in extra time meant that the match would go to a penalty shoot-out, which saw Spurs lose 2-1.

Unlucky girls maybe next time certain players will take on the instructions they have been given by management and coaching staff and enjoy success.  Better luck next time now we can focus on climbing the league table.

DARREN JOHNSON

Horley Town  4      Bexhill United  0    

London Women  -    Long Lane  -    
Woking  -     Bexhill United  -    
Horley Town  -      Hendon  -    
Lewes  -     Gravesend & Northfleet  -    
Acton Sports Club  -     Crowborough Athletic  -   

Awaiting match report.

-

Long Lane  -     Horley Town  -      
Woking  -     London Women  -   
Hendon  -     Crowborough Athletic  -   
Lewes  -     Acton Sports Club  -    

Awaiting match report.

-

Gravesend & Northfleet  -     Horley Town  -      
Acton Sports Club  -     Hendon  -    
Bexhill United  -     Lewes  -    
Crowborough Athletic  -    Long Lane  -    

Awaiting match report.

-

Long Lane  -     London Women  -   
Lewes  -     Crowborough Athletic  -   
Acton Sports Club  -     Bexhill United  -    

Awaiting match report.

-

Long Lane  -    
Woking  -    
London Women  -   
Hendon  -    
Gravesend & Northfleet  -    
Lewes  -    
Acton Sports Club  -    
Bexhill United  -    
Crowborough Athletic  -   
Horley Town  -