Tottenham Hotspur Ladies FC -

Under-10 Blues match reports 2006-07

Tottenham Hotspur Whites  6     Denham United   0    
Stotfold  2     Garston Ladies  0    
Stevenage Borough Juniors  0     Hitchin Town Belles  4    

Awaiting match report.

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Denham United   0     Stotfold  1    
Tottenham Hotspur Whites  11     Hitchin Town Belles  0    

Awaiting match report.

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Enfield Town Ladies  1     Luton Town Belles  0    
Garston Ladies  2     Hitchin Town Belles  1    
Hatfield Youth  v  Denham United   -  Home win awarded  
Stevenage Borough Juniors  3     Hoddesdon Owls  0    
Stotfold  0     Tottenham Hotspur Whites  2    

Match postponed as Hatfield Youth could not field a side.  Home win awarded to Spurs.

Denham United   0     Garston Ladies  4    
Enfield Town Ladies  3     Stevenage Borough Juniors  4    
Hoddesdon Owls  0     Watford Ladies  2    
Luton Town Belles  7     Hitchin Town Belles  0    

Awaiting match report.

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Hitchin Town Belles  0     Stotfold  2    
Hoddesdon Owls  1     Enfield Town Ladies  1    
Stevenage Borough Juniors  1     Hatfield Youth  1    
Watford Ladies  2     Garston Ladies  6    

Watford kicked off the first half in the driving rain, only to immediately lose possession to the visitors.  Despite the weather conditions, the girls managed to string together some lovely passing moves involving almost the entire team, culminating in Spurs taking the lead when Tara Sandford slid the ball to Maya Vio to slot home with still under a minute on the clock.  

The Blues could have easily gone in at the break five goals to the good, as a series of opportunities in front of goal went begging.  Credit has to go to the Watford keeper for keeping her team in the game as Spurs looked to go on the rampage, forcing several corners, goalmouth scrambles and an attempt that hit the post with the ball rolling agonisingly along the line, with no one able to get a toe on it.  That said, with Spurs making most of the play, Watford still remained a threat on the break and looked dangerous whenever their number 8s got on the ball. That’s right, there were two number 8s on the pitch, causing much confusion for Rachel Brier, who was repeatedly called to pick up their number 8 !!

With the half incredibly ending 0–1 to the Blues, the girls were asked to carry on taking the game to Watford and to keep battling hard for each other.  The teams took to the field with the same line up that started the first half with the exception of Lauren Ludwick, who pulled on the keeper's shirt in place of Jacqueline McLucas.  Christie Page came back on to anchor central midfield after her bruising encounter forcing her off half way through the first half.  Tara and Chloe Tunicliffe along with Christie completed the midfield with Maya once again up front.  At the back, the formidable pairing of Poppy Bennett and Rachel were shoring up the defence. 

The Blues continued to work hard to carve out the openings, but still had to work equally hard to maintain their shape and discipline when possession was lost to Watford, who continued to threaten, without managing to score.  Instead it was Spurs, with hat trick hero Maya Vio grabbing another two goals in the second half along with the player of the match award, to see the Blues once again take the points that keeps them flying high at the top of the table. 

The girls put on yet another good, positive performance against a good Watford side.  With all the players getting their chance to contribute, and with substitute appearances from Ellis Lunn, Lauren, Chantay Watson and Shannon Shacklock, it remains to be seen what this squad of players can achieve this season.

IAN SANDFORD

Denham United   1     Enfield Town Ladies  3    
Hitchin Town Belles  4     Hatfield Youth  0    
Hoddesdon Owls  0     Garston Ladies  4    
Luton Town Belles  3     Stotfold  1    
Watford Ladies  0     Tottenham Hotspur Blues  3    
Tottenham Hotspur Whites  8     Stevenage Borough Juniors  0    

Awaiting match report.

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Enfield Town Ladies  v  Tottenham Hotspur Whites  -   match postponed 
Garston Ladies  v  Stevenage Borough Juniors  -   match postponed
Hatfield Youth  0     Stotfold  2    
Hitchin Town Belles  5     Hoddesdon Owls  1    
Watford Ladies  2     Denham United   1    

Awaiting match report.

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Other Results :
Luton Town  4     Watford Ladies  2    
Garston Ladies  0     Tottenham Hotspur Whites  6    
Stotfold  2     Denham United   0    
Hoddesdon Owls  -     Stevenage Borough Juniors  -      Match postponed
Enfield Town Ladies  -    Hitchin Town Belles  -     Match postponed

Awaiting match report.

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Denham United   1     Hatfield Youth  0    
Garston Ladies  0     Stotfold  0    
Hitchin Town Belles  3     Stevenage Borough Juniors  1    
Hoddesdon Owls  0     Luton Town Belles  11    
Watford Ladies  2     Enfield Town Ladies  2    

With these words of wisdom still ringing loudly in their ears, the girls lined up with Jacqueline McLucas in goal, Poppy Bennett and Chantay Watson in defence, Tara Sandford, Christie Page and Rachel Brier in midfield, with goal machine Ellis Lunn up front. 

The Owls kicked off the first half, understandably taking up a strong defensive formation, with the entire Hoddesdon team camped in their own half.  The Spurs girls struggled, unable to break down the Owls in the early stages, even allowing Hoddesdon to bring the game to them.  A couple of early Hoddesdon breaks had the Spurs girls on the defence and on occasions outnumbered.  From a defensive clearance, Hoddesdon managed to bypass the entire Spurs midfield, putting the Blues under pressure from which the Owls managed to win a corner.  Just two Hoddesdon players managed to venture into the Spurs penalty area, giving an early indication of their intentions to shut up shop and to make life as difficult as possible for the away team. 

However, it was the Spurs, who, with six minutes on the clock took the lead, when, from a Spurs corner, Tara struck a magnificent volley to make it 0 -1 to the Spurs.  Having got the first goal, the anticipated goal feast was now on the cards, but still the girls struggled to break down a resolute Hoddesdon defence.  That was until, with 15 minutes gone, Poppy passed the ball out to Christie on the right from a Tottenham goal kick.  Christie managed to fend off a challenge before sliding the ball forward to Ellis on the edge of Hoddesdon’s penalty area.  Ellis then turned inside and unleashed a shot, which the keeper could only parry into the path of Chloe Tunnicliffe, who slotted home at the far past, making it 0-2 to the Spurs.  Ellis then managed to get on the score sheet herself, almost immediately to make it 0-3 and bringing to an end to an entertaining first half. 

The Blues kicked off the second half and went onto dominate the rest of the game with shots raining in on the Hoddesdon goal.  Tara went close on two minutes, bringing out a save from the keeper, who could only parry the ball to Chloe once again, but on this occasion she shot just wide.  Goal number four was soon to come courtesy of Tara when she drilled a shot into the bottom left corner of the Hoddesdon goal in the third minute of the second half. 

Poppy and Chloe both went close with two shots apiece as did Rachel as Hoddesdon struggled with the ensuing Spurs pressure.  With the substitutes itching to get a taste of the action, Tara made way for Ellis and Chantay came on for Christie.  

At the other end, Lauren had to make a save to keep the score at 0-4 to Spurs.  Ellis however, having just come on managed her second goal of the day to make it 0-5 ten minutes into the second half. 

With the points in the bag, further substitutions were made with Shannon and Danielle coming on for Poppy and Jacqueline respectively to see out the last ten minutes of a game where the teams seemed to settle for what was a comfortable win for the U10 Blues. 

Due to a certain amount of indecisiveness and sheer incompetence on the part of the coaching staff, it was left to the players to decide on the outcome of the player of the match.  Once again the girls demonstrated their unity as they all overwhelmingly voted Ellis Lunn player of the match.  Two good goals and an assist, she certainly gets my vote. 

Congratulations also have to go to the Whites, for their hard fought 1-0 victory over Luton, to keep the Chairman’s Cup where it belongs.  Well Done Glenn and the girls. 

IAN SANDFORD

Stotfold  1     Enfield Town Ladies  1    
Garston Ladies  3     Hatfield Youth  0    
Hitchin Town Belles  3     Watford Ladies  1    
Stevenage Borough Juniors  0     Denham United   0    

Chairman's Cup Final
Luton Town Belles  0     Tottenham Hotspur Whites  1    

No other games

From the kick off the Spurs mounted attack after attack, practically keeping Hitchin penned back in their own half.  The Spurs girls, although dominant in the opening minutes were sometimes guilty of getting in each others way, when getting into some good positions.  But with the Blues continuing to press, the pressure was beginning to pay off with Spurs winning a number of corners from which they went close, with some good attempts at Hitchin’s goal.  However, it was from a loose ball four minutes into the game that the first goal was going to come.  Lurking well outside the Hitchin penalty box, Rachel instinctively hit a stunning first time drive past the keeper, that flew straight into the top of the net, to record her second goal of the season.  

Tara made it 2-0 on seven minutes, after some good work from Maya, dragging a pass from the by-line for Tara to hit first time from just inside the penalty area and into Hitchin’s goal, courtesy of a slight deflection off a Hitchin player.  Christie also got a well deserved goal, taking it to three on ten minutes with another drive from just outside the box.  

With Spurs now cruising, it was time for some substitutions, on came Ellis Lunn for Chloe and if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I’d never have believed it.  Vicky decided to swap Jacqueline and Rachel in the middle of the first half, with Vicky virtually wrestling Jacqueline to the ground in an attempt to remove the keeper's jersey and gloves ... ain’t that for the half time interval love ... ??  Anyway, the game eventually restarted and Spurs managed to see out the first half, coming in three goals to the good with Chantay coming on late in the first half. 

Spurs were soon to go 4-0 up in the third minute of the second half, when, from a Poppy corner, Tara picked up the ball to feed Maya to score her first of the game.  Further changes were made with Shannon and Danielle coming on to play their part in what was a lively encounter between two hard working teams

Not to have it all their own way though, Spurs soon succumbed to a Hitchin counter attack and this time it was Rachel picking the ball out from the back of the net to take the score to 4-1.  The game continued to be played at a good tempo, but with chances now few and far between, the game ended with Spurs taking all three points, keeping them top of the table for yet another week. 

A well deserved Player of the Match was awarded to Rachel Briers, not only for her wonder strike, but also for another solid performance, that has without doubt made the Blues a tougher nut to crack since she joined the squad.  The team is really starting to benefit from her and Poppy’s solid platform from which the rest of the team, with the driving force of Christie Page, combined with Chloe’s skill, Maya’s constant threat up front, Ellis’s pace, and Tara pulling the strings from midfield, look to be developing in confidence in every game.  Not to mention the all action Jacqueline McLucas in goal and the ever improving substitute appearances from Chantay, Shannon and Danielle. And it has to be said, Vicky, you played a blinder…….

IAN SANDFORD

Luton Town  4     Enfield Town Ladies  0   
Garston Ladies   4     Denham United   0    
Watford Ladies  2     Stevenage Borough Juniors  2     
Tottenham Hotspur Whites  3     Stotfold  0    

Hatfield Youth  0     Stotfold  2    
Hoddesdon Owls  0     Denham United   1    
Watford Ladies  1     Luton Town  5    

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Stevenage Borough Juniors  0      Luton Town  7    
Stotfold  0     Tottenham Hotspur Blues  2    
Hoddesdon Owls  0     Denham United   1    
Enfield Town Ladies  -     Hatfield Youth  -    
Hitchin Town Belles  -     Garston Ladies  -    
Tottenham Hotspur Whites  5     Watford Ladies  0