Tottenham Hotspur Ladies -

Under-10's Blues reports 2006-07

In a highly entertaining game, Spurs played some attractive football throughout through the midfield combination of Page, Vio and Sandford.  Garston had a series of a good chances in the middle phase of the game and the game could have ended up 8-8 !  Ever improving Chloe Tunncliffe bagged Spurs fourth goal of the game. 

A good, all round team performance by the Blues who may shock of few of the sides in the Under 10 Division this season.

Garston, as always, were sporting opponents in a game played in a great spirit.

GLENN WEAVER

The Tottenham girls were told close down and give no space.  To their credit and to our amazement, they listened and carried out the instruction.   They were unlucky to go 1-0 down from an Enfield Rangers corner early on, but they held their heads high and did not give up.  They displayed commitment and brought the game to the boys. 

The second half started with the girls starting brightly and shocking the boys with their passing play and intelligent display.  The Enfield Rangers goal was being peppered with chances from the girls, but to his credit, the keeper kept all shots at bay, until THLFC captain, Tara Sanford decided to run at the Enfield defence and managed to go for goal, only to decide to cut the ball back for Maya Vio to slot the ball into the top of the Enfield Rangers’ goal to make it 1-1.  We all look forward to seeing this formidable pairing working up front together during this season. 

Gerry McLucas, who managed today’s team summed up his view that these girls will develop into a strong unit and with the experience from the three girls who have played last season, and the pace up front from new signings, this could be a strong team for the coming season.   

It was impossible to pick a player of the match, as all of the U10 Blues worked together to give a tremendous pre-season performance, and Christie Paige proves that Red Bull really does give you wings !!!

VICKY McLUCAS

With a superb 8-0 victory with a devastating goal blitz from Maya Vio - with a hat trick in four minutes with goals coming on the four minute mark and then in the fifth and eighth minutes.  Chloe Tunnicliffe added to that tally with a goal after 12 minutes with some superb determination.  

Ellis Lunn, with her lightning speed, hit the net with a top goal on 17 minutes to finish off the first half that, at times, featured some breathtaking passing from the whole team. 

At half time the girls were told not to hold back in the second half and to start strongly, as Hatfield would be coming at them stronger ... and that is exactly what happened.  With the THLFC girls still dominating, Hatfield seemed determined to gain something from the game.  Maya had other ideas and scored her fourth goal of the day to make it 6-0.  The girls were now piling on the pressure and two minutes later, a close range tap-in from Daniela Charles added another to the score line made it seven.  Tara Sandford, the THLFC captain, had worked so hard, threading pass after pass through for others and battling hard for her team, decided to wrap up the scoring four minutes from the end to seal an 8-0 victory. 

Every girl worked hard on the pitch including Lauren Ludwick in goal, who is getting better and more confident every game.  Jacqueline McLucas looks solid at the back along with Poppy Bennett, as Christie Page’s experience starts to shine through.  Chantay Watson is looking stronger the more games she plays, as is Shannon Shacklock. 

On to the next game ... keep it up girls.

GERRY McLUCAS

The Tottenham girls started slower than normal, with the improving and more confident Lauren Ludwick, having to be on her toes in goal, as Hitchin made a number of attacks on the Tottenham goal, but the defence of Poppy Bennett and Jacqueline McLucas held firm.  The Tottenham girls started having the majority of play with Maya Vio causing all sorts of problems for the Hitchin defence, with the midfield of Tara Sandford, newly appointed vice-captain Christie Page and Chloe Tunnicliffe threading and passing the ball around. 

It wasn’t until the 12th minute that Maya slotted the first goal of the day into the bottom left corner of the Hitchin goal.  We all thought this was what was needed to start the girls adding to the goal tally.   Hitchin had other ideas and started putting pressure on the Tottenham defence, with Lauren having to make a good save to keep the Blues in front at the half-way stage. 

The Hitchin girls started were they left off, making good attacking runs at the Blues goal and two minutes into the second half, one of the attacks paid off and they levelled the score at 1-1.  This seemed to wake the Blues up.  With Ellis Lunn making some very quick runs in midfield and with Tara about you better watch out !  Eight minutes into the second half, the Blues were back in front with Tara making it 2-1.  The pressure was now on the Hitchin defence and three minutes later Maya made it 3-1.

The girls were now playing some lovely football; they seem to lead teams in to a false sense of hope and then in a matter of minutes they score goal after goal.  Not being out-done the captain Tara decided to make it 4-1 on 13 minutes.  Chantay Watson came on as replacement for Jacqueline and fitted in as if nothing had happened. 

Ellis, who was now starting to show her pace and skill, decided she wanted to get the score sheet and made it 5-1 on 15 minutes.  Daniela Charles, came on up front to see if she could add to her goal from last week, along with her was Shannon Shacklock, who came on for Christie to shore up the midfield as Hitchin were still battling away. 

The final whistle blew and this was a good result against a good Hitchin team. 

The player of the match award went to Ellis, who run her heart out and showed some great skill and determination. 

Good luck to the girls, as a result next week and a semi-final place awaits. 

GERRY McLUCAS

The U10 Blues went into this game full of confidence after two convincing wins in the Chairman's Cup, knowing that another win today would secure their passage to the semi finals. 

The teams lined up in the first half with Jacqueline McLucas in goal, deputising for Lauren Ludwick.  Poppy Bennett and Chloe Tunnicliffe started as an untried defensive pairing, with Ellis Lunn, Christie Page and Captain Tara Sandford making up the midfield.  Up front leading the attack was top scorer Maya Vio.

Denham kicked off the first half, with both teams making an effort to gain the upper hand, however it was Spurs, with their passing qualities and energy from the midfield trio that were looking most likely to get the all important first goal.  And that's exactly what happened when after about five minutes, when captain Tara picked up a loose ball to the right of Denham's goal.  With her first touch she turned inside, bearing down on goal and slotted the ball into the back of the net between the Denham goalkeeper and the upright from what seemed an impossible angle.   

IAN SANDFORD

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COME ON YOU BLUES !!

IAN SANDFORD

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Denham United   -     Luton Town Belles  -    
Enfield Town Ladies  -     Hoddesdon Owls  -    
Hatfield Youth  -     Watford Ladies  -    
Tottenham Hotspur Whites  -     Garston Ladies  -    
Stotfold  -     Stevenage Borough Juniors  -     Denham United   -    

With players missing from the regular line-up, the Spurs Under-10 Blues turned in a fine performance with only six players to run out 5-2 winners at Hitchin Town Belles.

The girls and parents travelled to what was probably their furthest away game they will have this season.  With some girls away still for the half term break and some not well Vicky McLucas was suddenly welcomed to managing a team with six fit players.  With her regular goalkeeper not well, Vicky had some serious thinking to do. 

So the Tottenham girls lined up against a good team in Hitchin Belles - Jacqueline McLucas deputising in goal, Christie Page (captain) and Poppy Bennett in defence and Chantay Watson, Chloe Tunnicliffe and Maya Vio in midfield. 

The Tottenham girls started brightly, spurred on by their touch line supporters, and they seemed to be dominating the game, with Chloe and Maya running the show and with Christie running her heart out. 

Suddenly, the Hitchin No12 picked the ball up and went on a solo run and to the surprise of everyone and made it 1-0 to Hitchin.  The Spurs girls were not about to lie down and give up and almost straight away Maya picked the ball up just inside of the Hitchin area and let rip with a great shot from an angle into the top corner to make it 1-1. 

Hitchin were trying to take the game to Tottenham but the defensive pairing of Christie and Poppy were soaking everything up.  Despite having less players, the Spurs girls were not going to play a defensive game and Christie picked the ball up inside her own area, went on a solo run and hit the ball from just inside the Hitchin half.  It avoided all the Hitchin players and went into goal to put the Tottenham 2-1 up. 

Chloe was now running the game on the left and causing all sorts of problems for Hitchin, as the girls were throwing everything to try to increase the lead.  Maya came close when the Hitchin goalkeeper’s kick out landed at her feet only for her shot to go just wide, but this only showed even more how geared up they were for the game. 

Just when we thought Spurs were dominating the game the Hitchin No. 12 powered her way through to make it 2-2. 

The second half started all square, but with a minute of the second half gone, Chloe lobbed the ball over the top of the Hitchin goalkeeper to make it 3-2.  The Tottenham girls were back on top. 

Chantay was now battling in midfield and getting involved in all the action as Tottenham were now totally dominating the game, with Jacqueline not being called into action. 

The fourth goal came from a great move from the girls, with Chloe receiving the ball from Maya just inside the Hitchin half.  She made a run, passed to Maya who laid it back to Chloe to make it 4-2.  But Chloe was not finished yet, as the Maya and Chloe show continued by linking up together for Chloe to score her hat trick. 

Today was a great, determined performance by all six girls with some delightful, unselfish football.   

Vicky McLucas and all the parents were extremely proud of every girl’s contribution to the match and it was decided to award the player of the match to all the girls for their hard work and never give up attitude.  Christie Paige, who was today’s captain, went off with a smile on her face, after the congratulations from the rest of the team.

GERRY McLUCAS

Denham United   0     Luton Town Belles  6    
Enfield Town Ladies  6     Hoddesdon Owls  0    
Hatfield Youth  0     Watford Ladies  1    
Stotfold  3     Stevenage Borough Juniors  0    
Tottenham Hotspur Whites  4     Garston Ladies  0    

The Blues played host to a Stotfold side, sitting just below the Spurs girls in fifth place in the league.  With both teams taking maximum points from their first three games, only goal difference separated the two sides and a tough game looked to be on the cards.

With Spurs coming into this game on the back of last Saturday’s disappointing semi final defeat to Tottenham Hotspur Whites, it was important to put that result behind us and get back to winning ways in order to stay in touch with the league leaders.

The Blues had a full squad available, but due to a knock on the head received by regular goalkeeper Lauren Ludwick in the warm up, a change of keeper was called for, just as Stotfold were about to kick off the first half.  Jacqueline McLucas stepped up and switched from defence to take up the reigns in goal.  As a result, Christie Page dropped back to partner Poppy Bennett in defence, allowing Chloe Tunnicliffe to join Ellis Lunn and Tara Sandford in midfield, with Maya Vio once again the lone striker.

From the kick off, it was Stotfold that seemed to get into their stride quicker than the Blues, with Spurs having to defend early on.  In a typically slow start by the girls, not able to get their passing game going, Spurs soon succumbed to Stotfold’s pressure, falling behind to a goal when Maya, under pressure, attempted to pass the ball out across the Spurs goal.  Unfortunately for Maya, the ball was picked up by an opposing player, who fired home to make it 0-1 to Stotfold.

This seemed to shake the girls up a bit and to their credit, they started to win the ball with some solid challenges. Appearing to have stepped up a gear, they began to stamp their authority on the game with their passing and determination and were soon to draw level, when with eight minutes on the clock, Tara Sandford picked up the ball on the left of Stotfold’s goal.  She put in a cross that eventually fell to Maya, who, with her back to goal, instinctively used the bounce of the ball to lift it over her head to score a brilliant goal that looped over the keeper's head and into the net.  Game on.

Stotfold continued to press forward and looked to threaten the Spurs goal, but with the defence of Christie and Poppy looking strong, the Blues were able to counter and carve out more chances of their own.  However, it was from a Tara corner kick the next goal came, when the ball fell to Maya, who on this occasion passed the ball to Ellis, who made no mistake with a shot into the bottom left hand corner of the Stotfold goal to make it 2-1 on fourteen minutes.

The game continued to and fro right up until the half time whistle, with the half ending two goals to one in the Blues favour.

During the half time interval the girls were encouraged to carry on in the same vein, but were told to get tighter when not in possession and keep working hard for each other.

Spurs kicked off the second half and continued to press Stotfold, resulting in a number of corners going Spurs way. Stotfold though were not prepared to roll over and countered with a number of attacks of their own, even bringing out a save from Jacqueline to prevent the visitors drawing level.  The next goal wasn’t too far away and came about when Chloe chased to collect the ball that was running out for a throw in.  From the line and with the goal behind her, Chloe turned and ran with the ball at her feet towards the edge of the Stotfold penalty area and unleashed a shot that took a deflection off a defender for a third goal to the Spurs.

Not to be out done Ellis chipped in with her second to make it 4-1 to Spurs.  Substitutes Chantay Watson and Shannon Shacklock came on for Chloe and Ellis to help the Blues see out the game and record a fourth successive win in the league, keeping them within touching distance of the leaders.

Again, it has to be said that the team played very well collectively, with some superb individual performances as well.  Player of the match however, goes to Maya Vio who could have very easily let her head drop after a mistake for Stotfold’s goal.  Maya was visibly upset, but with the support from her team mates, she turned in a great performance and scored a spectacular effort at the other end to get her team back into the game.  The award thoroughly deserved, had the backing of the rest of the girls, who clearly enjoy playing together as a team.

IAN SANDFORD

Denham United   -    
Enfield Town Ladies  -    
Garston Ladies  -    
Hatfield Youth  -    
Hitchin Town Belles  -    
Hoddesdon Owls  -    
Luton Town Belles  -    
Stevenage Borough Juniors  -    
Stotfold  -    
Tottenham Hotspur Whites  -    
Watford Ladies  -