Tottenham Hotspur Ladies -

Under-10's reports 2003-04

after extra time (full time score 3-3)

A goal inside two minutes gave Spurs the early confidence, when Nikki Hunnable netted for the seventh consecutive match after beating two tackles and shooting past the keeper after Nicole Bailey had put her through the middle.  Daisy O'Sullivan had to be on her toes in the Tottenham goal, as Garston's response brought her out at an attacker's feet and as the loose ball was prodded goalwards, Olivia Keown got in the way to clear the danger.

The play moved to the other end, when Nicole again linked up with Nikki, but the keeper managed to get enough on the save to divert the ball for a corner in the fifth minute.  The play settled down for a while, with both sides trying to impose themselves on the game, but in the 13th minute Nicole Bailey was once again the architect, as Spurs increased their lead.  The young Spur turned her marker with good skill in the area, before laying the ball square to Renata Inniss who ghosted in to knock home the good set-up.

Garston were determined to get back into the game and roared on by the considerable travelling support they brought with them, they pegged a goal back in the 15th minute.  A long free-kick was well saved by Daisy, but the loose ball was seized on by a Garston player, who shot the ball into the net to make it 2-1.  And a minute after that, it became all square, when a rash tackle by Renata caught a Purple player and a penalty was awarded and converted.

A well-contested match saw the sides turn around on equal terms, but in the first action of the second half, Tottenham edged in front once more.  Renata made a great run up the right wing, forcing the ball through to Ayse, who beat two defenders on her way to slipping the ball past the keeper to put Spurs 3-2 ahead.  Tottenham tried to finish off the game, with Renata and Nikki both having efforts kept out by the busy Garston goalie, but it was a brave save coming off her line by Daisy that denied the visiting number 14 an equaliser with five minutes remaining.  

Once again the play ebbed and flowed to the other end, where Nikki hit a great shot from outside the box and although the ball was over the keeper, it failed to dip just enough to go under the bar and crashed back into play from the metalwork.  Nikki also went close from a free-kick, but just as Tottenham looked like progressing tot he final, Garston gave it one last thrust.  Bursting into the box, one of their players was taken down by Olivia Keown and the ref pointed to the spot once again.  Up the Garston Purple player stepped to the spot and the ball hit the inside of the post and went in to make it 3-3.  Even then, in injury time, Nicole and Renata both had shots saved and Renata also hit the side-netting when through on the left. 

So, the game entered extra-time, with Tottenham pressing from the start.  Ayse hit a shot that was wide and as the first period was coming to an end, Renata won the ball on the left wing, ran at the defence, cutting inside to unleash a fierce rising shot that beat the Purples goalie as it crashed into the roof of the net.

Turning around with the lead, Tottenham defended resolutely, with Olivia Keown making some well-timed interceptions and Hannah Lyons making some important tackles, but the whole side put in a lot of hard work to protect their lead.  Substitutes Georgia Bruce and Phoebe Ogunwobi introduced fresh legs to run at the tiring Garston team, producing a chance for Nikki, who took on her marker for pace and hit another cracking shot that rattled the post.  Although Spurs could not force another goal, their team play earned them the right to go through to the League Cup Final on May 16th, although the Garston girls put up a good showing, leaving their big support disappointed, as Spurs stretched their unbeaten record in this competition.

Photos from the game can be viewed by clicking here.

Other results :

LEAGUE CUP SEMI-FINAL

Luton Town Belles  6    Garston Blues  0

LEAGUE

Barking  v  Stevenage Borough Vixens  -  postponed
Buntingford Cougars  4    Hitchin Belles  0
Hatfield Youth  1     Denham United  4

Garston Blues  3    Garston Purples  6
Luton Town Belles  13    Barking  0
Watford  3    Hitchin Belles  0

The game gave the chance for the Under 10s  Manager, Jayne Foster to experiment with different players.  The starting line up for the under 10s was Olivia Keown in goal; Hannah Lyons and Rauda Parkes in defence; Charlotte McLucas, Nicole Bailey and Georgia Bruce in midfield and Phoebe Ogunwobi up front.  The match started with lots of play in midfield, with Phoebe having the first chance to open the game up with a shot just going wide.  The younger girls seemed to surprise the Under 11’s with their understanding and technique.  It was not long before Phoebe made another lovely run along the wing and passing to Charlotte just inside the edge of the area, only for the ball to go wide.  The Under 11s again where trying to make up ground only to be bogged down by the determination of the Under 10s.   

From midfield Georgia played a lovely through ball to Phoebe, who dummied her defender and shot on goal giving the Under 10`s the deserved lead.   Shortly afterwards Charlotte was taken off with a hip injury (which has turned out to be a pulled muscle).  The Under 11s fought back to make it 1-1 with Tayla Goodman taking her goal well.  Going in to the break, with changes being made on both sides, it was time for Shianne St. Louis, Nikki Hunnable, Ayse Mustafa to contribute towards the game with Shianne shaping up as a possible contender in defence next season.   

The game was light hearted and the unbeaten Under 11s seemed to show the younger girls too much respect.  It was not long into the second half when Renata passed to Ayse from a throw in, Ayse passed through to Nikki who scored to make it 2-1.  The goal seemed to spring the Under 11s into action with Rauda Parkes now in goal making some important saves to keep the game alive for the younger girls. Nicole Bailey making some important tackles in midfield linking up with Renata and Ayse. The Under 10s increased their lead with a great ball to Renata who made no mistake to make it 3-1. The Under 11s hit back towards the end of the game to make it 3-2 through a second Tayla Goodman goal and it took a good save by Rauda to stop the Under 11s equalizing.   

Gerry McLucas

Other results :

Nicole Bailey put Tottenham on their way with a third minute drive, just inside the post as she was closed down by two defenders.  It was almost a replay of the first goal, when Nicole doubled the lead with the goalkeeper getting something on the ball as it came at her, but she could not keep the ball out.

Ayse Mustafa was having an inspired performance in midfield and halfway through the half, Renata Inniss continued her fine scoring form with a fierce shot coming in from the left wing and shooting past the goalie from just inside the box.  Several good saves from the goalkeeper kept Stevenage in the game, but some good work by Phoebe Ogunwobi on the left wing opened up an opportunity for Renata to make it 4-0 just before the break.

Manager Jayne Foster brought Georgia Bruce into the action at the interval and her resolve to win the ball allowed Nikki Hunnable to shoot the fifth goal in the first minute of the second half.  Two minutes after that, Renata picked up the ball inside her own half and ran at the Vixens defence at pace, weaving past them as she went all the way to score a magnificent solo goal to complete her hat-trick (her seventh of the season).

After 12 minutes of the second half, Nikki made progress down the right wing and her cross was met on the half volley by Georgia, but she was unable to keep her shot down.  However, a couple of minutes later Georgia got her reward, when she picked up the ball from a right wing throw-in and she squeezed the ball home at the near post from a very narrow angle.

Stevenage had a couple of breakaways as the game came to an end, but Daisy O'Sullivan showed she had stayed alert by rushing to deny a shot on goal by grabbing the ball at the feet of a striker and Olivia Keown, Hannah Lyons, Rauda Parkes and Charlotte McLucas all ensured that the opposition were kept at a safe distance from goal.

With just four minutes left, Rauda made a good run through the middle and fed Nikki to strike home the eighth goal to round off a very satisfactory morning's work for the girls.

Photos from the game can be viewed by clicking here.

Other results :

Garston Purples  5    Barking  0
Garston Blues  3    Hitchin Belles  1
Hatfield Youth  4    Buntingford Cougars  0
Luton Town Belles  v  Watford  -  Watford did not appear for the match

After a delayed start the game got under way, with the girls seeming not to be in control.   Watford pushed forward from the start and the Tottenham defence had to be on their toes with Olivia, Hannah, and Nicole blocking the Watford push forward in the early exchanges.  Although most of the play was with the Tottenham team, the forward line up of Ayse, Renata, and Nikki were unable to make the opening that they deserved.  It took some good running back from Renata to help the out-of-sorts defence.  

With Nikki going close early on in the match after some lovely link up play up front, it just seemed that today might not be their day.  With the introduction of Phoebe and Georgia on for Renata and Ayse things seemed to pick up, with Olivia bringing the ball out of defence to the half way line and the ball played beautifully through to Nikki, who found the ball just the wrong side of her to have a shot on goal.  It was a lovely through ball from the skillful Phoebe who found Nikki, who held off her defender in the Watford area to make no mistake.  The first half finished 1-0 to Spurs thanks to Phoebe playing some lovely passing play. 

The second half started with the Tottenham girls performing better than the first half.  A superb tackle by Renata passed to Ayse, who was heading for goal only to be fouled within the Watford penalty area left the referee with no choice but to award a penalty.  Renata stepped up to smash home a superb penalty to make it 2-0.  With some great defensive play by Hannah and Olivia at the back, Watford were denied with a solid performance in the second half.  This obviously helped the ever-impressive Daisy in goal, who can perform as a goalkeeper or a midfield player.  

With the Spurs girls playing to some kind of normal pattern in the second half, Renata took a corner that put the ball into the centre of the Watford defence.  It found Ayse, who, with a brilliant first time strike, made it 3-0.  

With Watford determined to gain something from the game, they took the game to Tottenham.  There was a moment of relief for Daisy when Watford hit the post from a free kick.  

Jayne Foster, the Tottenham Manager, introduced fresh legs with Rauda and Charlotte, with Rauda steaming back to make a crucial tackle against the Watford forward, as she was poised to shoot.  Nicole responded with a shot on goal just going past the Watford post.  Then Charlotte picked the ball up from an attack by Watford just outside the Spurs area, passed one Watford attacker to steam down the wing and slipped a pass through to Phoebe, who was unlucky not to get a shot on goal. 

This win secured runners up within their league and one game yet to be played.  It showed just how far this young team have come since last September with the likes of Georgia Bruce showing some outstanding potential along with Rauda, Charlotte and the ever-improving Phoebe.

GERRY McLUCAS

Other results :

Nicole had a shot go just wide of the Garston goal, which she followed up shortly afterwards with a lovely pass through to Nikki, who ran on goal and made no mistake in putting Tottenham 1-0 ahead.  The introduction of Rauda Parkes sent a pass through to Georgia Bruce, who sent her shot just wide of the Garston goal.  Just before half time when it looked as if the Tottenham girls where on top, Garston counter attack produced the equaliser to make it 1-1 at the half way break. 

The second half started with Rauda going in goal and Nicole starting as she left off, with a free kick just on the edge of the Garston area just going wide.  Nicole also followed up with a good shot being saved by the Garston goalie, before the Spurs defence gave the ball away in their own penalty area, which gave Garston a 2-1 lead.  The Tottenham girls seemed to spring into action once again with some lovely skill and passing between the girls.  Nikki came close on more than one occasion and it seemed as if it was not going to be the Tottenham girls’ day.   

Nicole had other ideas and played a brilliant pass through to Nikki, who shrugged of a defender to make it 2-2.  With Ayse battling hard trying to make the winning goal with great tackles, Georgia showing some great passing play and Charlotte making some good tackles, the girls had a spring in their step.  The Tottenham girls started running at the Garston defence.  It took a lovely pass from Nicole, who put Nikki through on more than one occasion on goal to shoot and just as it looked like a hat trick, Georgia decided to make sure by just helping it into the Garston girls net to make the final score 3-2.  It was a good passing performance from this Tottenham team that has showed all season what a talented team they are and love playing together as a team. Now they can concentrate on the Cup final.

GERRY McLUCAS

Other results :

This was despite taking the lead in the third minute, when Renata Inniss won the ball in midfield, fed it through the middle to Nikki Hunnable and she struck a fine shot past the Luton goalie, just as she had in the League game back in March.  However, history was to repeat itself as the Belles came back into the game just three minutes later.  A ball across the goalmouth was converted at the far post to make it 1-1 and then on ten minutes, a Luton forward had a straight run on goal and beat Daisy Sullivan with a low shot.

Tottenham were not going to take this lightly and with Ayse Mustafa working hard in midfield, the ball was played out left to Renata, who hit a dipping shot that brought a good save from the keeper in the 13th minute.  But a minute later, a run through the left hand channel produced Luton's third goal with another fierce shot that Daisy could not keep out.

Two minutes before the break, the high ball into the penalty area that went over Daisy's head was handled on the line by Olivia Keown and the penalty that was awarded was converted to make it 4-0 at half-time.

Spurs had been the victim of some ruthless finishing by Luton and had not played badly, but they stepped things up after the interval and a talking to by manager Jayne Foster.  The midfield of Georgia Bruce, Ayse and Renata got more of the ball and fed a better supply to Phoebe Ogunwobi and Nikki, but the Luton defence was strong.  They were called upon to put aside their attacking intentions, as Spurs caused them to clear the ball hurriedly on a few occasions.  Olivia, Nicole Bailey and Hannah Lyons got more of a hold on the Luton forwards in the second half, while, when they did get past them, they found player of the match - goalkeeper Daisy Sullivan - in inspired and heroic form with a string of excellent saves and some brave dives at the feet of the Belles players.  Charlotte McLucas and Rauda Parkes both made late contributions from the bench.

Tottenham were frustrated by the referee's decisions on two occasions to stop play when they were on the attack and from the second, the ball was played high into the area.  Daisy made a fine save, but the rebound was bundled in for Luton's fifth goal and two minutes later it was all over.

Congratulations to Luton Town Belles for their win, but the Tottenham girls can take heart from the fact that the current Under-11s were in this position last season after being beaten by Luton in the final ... and look at them now !!

Photos of the match can be viewed by clicking here.