Tottenham Hotspur Ladies -

Under-11's reports 2003-04

A five goal haul for striker Lindsey Cockle and a further goal by Eleanda Taladianou wrapped up a convincing victory for a Tottenham side that included a number of Under-10 players.

For long periods it looked as though the game would remain scoreless between these two evenly matched sides, but it took two cracking goals to win it for Spurs in the second half.

Spurs exhibited some expansive play, with Belinda Sugarman opening up the Barking defence in the first Tottenham attack with a long cross-field pass.  It landed at Lindsey Cockle's feet and her first time shot was well saved by the keeper.  Lindsey had two other opportunities in the opening quarter of an hour, but failed to find the net, while Barking had a great chance when the ball fell in the area, but it was spurned as the ball flew over the bar.  After 20 minutes, Jodie Fenn crossed for Tessa Osborne to hit a volley narrowly wide and the same margin separated Zoë Jackson's 15 yard shot from going in.

The return after the break saw Tottenham continue to take the game to Barking, with Lindsey forcing the keeper to a save at the foot of her post and then fire two other efforts wide when through.  Eight minutes into the second half, captain Zoë Jackson opened the scoring for Spurs.  Intercepting a goal-kick, Zoë strode forward and hit a 15 yard shot that the keeper could not stop bulging the net.

Jodie had replaced Eleanda in goal after the interval and she was kept busy by the Barking girls as they tried to get back into the match.  She was forced to rush out to close down an approaching forward, who lobbed over her and over the bar, before having to throw herself at opponent's feet three times to save one-on-one situations.  

Halfway through the second period, Paige Barnard from ten yards and Eleanda from eight, both went close, while the Barking keeper made a great reflex save from a close in Tessa volley, which rebounded back to the Spurs midfielder, who hit the post before Eleanda's shot was kept out again by the goalie.  Eleanda was desperate to score and flicked the ball up in the box to create her own volley that flew over the top.

A well worked corner routine between Tessa and Paige produced a cross that was missed by the Spurs players in the area, but in the final action of the match, Eleanda finally got on the score-sheet.  Taking the ball off a defender on the half-way line, she ran through and despite attempts to pull her back, she shrugged off the challenge and blazed a shot past the goalkeeper.

Both sides played some good football and two flashes of power gave Tottenham the win, but both teams will take positives form the match to begin their League programmes. 

For photos of the game, click here.

Kevin Fenn

Other results :
Garston Blues  0   Barking A  0
Hitchin Belles Purples  0   Harvesters  1
Stevenage Borough Vixens  0
Watford A  4    Enfield  1
Potters Bar Crusaders 1   QPR  7 

Kevin Fenn

Other results :
Barking A  0   Harvesters  2
Stevenage Borough Vixens  1   Watford A  2
Potters Bar Crusaders 0   Enfield  6
Hitchin Belles Purples  2   QPR  5 

Kevin Fenn

Other results :
Garston Blues  2    Enfield  3
QPR  2    Stevenage Borough Vixens  0 
Potters Bar Crusaders 1   Harvesters  6
Hitchin Belles Purples  2   Barking A  0

Kevin Fenn

Other results :
QPR  1    Watford A  4
Stevenage Borough Vixens  7   Enfield  2
Barking A  7    Potters Bar Crusaders 0   
Garston Blues  1   Hitchin Belles Purples  1   

The visitors took the first half spoils with a good display of passing that had Tottenham on the back foot for most of the 25 minutes.  It was only the safe handling of crosses and excellent shot-stopping by first half keeper Lindsey Cockle that kept Spurs level at 0-0 at the break.  The only time she was beaten was when a lob bounced off the top of the bar, but Linds had the shot covered if it had dropped a bit lower.

Into the second half, Tottenham became more enterprising in their attacks and caused the QPR defence some more anxious moments.  Aimee Rose ran through the middle forcing the keeper to make a save and Lindsey went close, hitting the side netting.  With six minutes remaining in the match, Tottenham grabbed the decisive goal that brought them the win.

A corner was played into the Rangers box and a defender cleared the ball into the air.  The keeper came for it, dropped the ball and Lindsey hit the post with a shot.  However, Aimee Rose was the quickest to react and steered the ball home into the corner of the net from close range.

Spurs survived a scare when QPR played a free-kick across the face of the box without anyone getting a touch on it and Eleanda Taladianou, between the sticks for the second period, made a save with her feet to prevent the away side equalising.  As the game ended in a frantic finish, Lindsey had a shot cleared from in front of the goal and hard-working midfielder Jodie Fenn was thwarted by a last ditch challenge by a Hoops defender.

Rangers had played a good match and the result might have just flattered Tottenham, but good work in defence had shut the door on any QPR threat and the midfield all worked hard to close down the skillful Rangers players.

For photos from the match click here.

Other results :
Barking A 1    Stevenage Borough Vixens  0
Harvesters 0    Watford A 2
Hitchin Town Belles Purples  0    Enfield 0
Potters Bar Crusaders 1    Garston Blues 1

In this top versus bottom clash it was Spurs who continued their unbeaten run with a 6^th straight league win against Potters Bar Crusaders.

Although Spurs enjoyed plenty of the play in the first half they found it hard work in breaking down the defensive strategy applied by the Crusaders. That breakthrough appeared to be on the cards when Spurs were awarded a penalty but the goalie saved well from an Aimee Rose spot kick.

The game gave a chance to utilize the whole squad and there were good first half performances from Tayla Goodman and Nicola Davey, making her debut in goal.

Spurs seemed to be frustrated when attempts by Lindsey Cockle, Belinda Sugarman and Aimee Rose went wide but it was the cool head of Tessa Osborne who eventually found a way through, drilling the ball into the corner of the net from a tight angle.

Zoë Jackson had another inspirational performance playing a deep defensive role in midfield and Belinda Sugarman was very effective on the wing, finding space and feeding good crosses into the box. She deserved the praise at the end of the match for her unselfish play.

The second goal came from Laila El Haddad who found space after a short corner from Aimee Rose and squeezed the ball between the goalie and the post. This signalled a frenzied final quarter of the match with Spurs launching a series of attacks with players keen to get on the scorecard.

Spurs finally scored the third when Lindsey Cockle fired in from close range after getting close on several occasions.  

Kevin Fenn

Other results :
QPR  3     Barking A  2
Enfield  3    Harvesters 0
Watford A  4    Hitchin Town Belles Purples  1
Garston Blues 1    Stevenage Borough Vixens  1

A draw saw Tottenham's Under-11s drop their first League point of the season and it was a disappointing performance, although they maintain their unbeaten record.

Hitchin pegged Spurs back at the start of the game, but an early breakthrough was not built on, as the girls had done in recent outings.  A ball was fed into the heart of the penalty area, where Tayla Goodman saw her effort smothered by the keeper.  However, the ball came out the other side of the goalie's dive and Tayla tapped home for her first goal of the season.  

In a tightly contested first half, Tottenham only created two more clear opportunities, with Belinda Sugarman shooting narrowly wide and captain Zoë Jackson lobbing a shot at goal, which the keeper dealt with well.

Spurs began the second half brightly and produced close efforts from Paige Barnard and Lindsey Cockle, who also was just beaten by a good ball into the area by Laila El Haddad.  Aimee Rose and Lindsey linked up ten minutes into the half to produce a chance for Zoë, but it went just off target.  The Hitchin keeper was brave to dive at Lindsey's feet half-way into the second period to produce a save which inspired the away side.

They moved forward and Tessa Osborne in goal was brought into action with a good diving save to stop Hitchin equalising.  Two shots by Lindsey - one a neat volley from Laila's cross - could not beat the Hitchin defence and it was with just minutes remaining that the Purples nicked a late equaliser.  A long ball downfield squirmed past Tessa and the Hitchin forward slotted home to make the final score 1-1.

Photos from the match can be viewed by clicking here.

Other results :
Stevenage Borough Vixens   10       Potters Bar Crusaders  0
Barking A  0     Watford A  3
Enfield  2     QPR  5  
Harvesters  2    Garston Blues  0

Crystal Palace came prepared to play football and were extremely dangerous on the counter attack.  However, the Spurs defence of Jodie Fenn, Paige Barnard, Ryah Vyse and substitute Olivia Rodney were marshalling well and closing down the persistent threat.

It was Ryah who made the breakthrough in the first half, when her strong surge forward was eclipsed by her powerful shot that flew past the Palace goalkeeper.

This was soon followed by the second goal that was somehow looped in at the far post by Eleanda Taladianou after a shot from a Spurs player flew in her direction.

There was a confidence in Spurs' play and it was Paige Barnard who took the initiative striding across the face of the penalty box before unleashing a powerful drive that the goalkeeper had little chance of saving.

The Spurs goalkeeper Tessa Osborne had a superb game, rushing to clear the ball to safety when a Palace counter attack saw four opposition players advancing against just one defender.

However there was little she could do for the Palace goal when an excellent half volley brought them temporarily back into the game.

Lindsey Cockle helped ease any tension by tucking away the fourth goal.

Kevin Fenn