Tottenham Hotspur Ladies -

Under-11's reports 2004-05

The Under-11 side started their season with a hard fought win over Harvesters in a friendly match.

A hat-trick from Charlotte Dean on her debut made it a game to remember for her and further goals from Nicole Bailey, Renata Inniss and Nikki Hunnable wrapped up a win against a determined Harvesters side.

The first match of the new season saw Spurs Under 11s line up with four new recruits to the ranks.  A lively start by Spurs saw consecutive shots on target from Ayse Mustafa, Charlotte Dean and Nikki Hunnable, however, the Buntingford goalie had other ideas !  The continuous passing and teamwork paid off when Charlotte received the ball after good work from Taylor O'Leary, Ayse and Nikki and she struck the ball positively to make it 1-0.  

From the kick off, Nicole Bailey made a good run through the middle and shot just wide of the goal.  It looked like it just wasn’t going to be the Tottenham girls’ day for scoring when Charlotte struck fiercely, but another great save from the Buntingford goalie kept the score at 1-0.   Nikki and Nicole were substituted for Phoebe Ogunwobi and Olivia Keown. 

Shortly after Taylor ran the ball out from defence to Charlotte, who picked it up to see Phoebe in space.  With a solid strike, Phoebe made the score line 2-0.  Ayse went off for a well earned rest and Shianne St. Louis came on.  There was another shot from Charlotte, which this time curled over the cross bar, but it wasn’t long before the score increased to 3-0 with a goal from Taylor in the last minute of the first half. 

The second half begun and within minutes Ayse opened the scoring again by making it 4-0.  Not too long after a fantastic link up between Shianne, Olivia and Nicole, saw Ayse knock number 5 firmly into the back of the net. 

Buntingford took the ball into the scoring zone and tried to put the pressure on – Spurs were not going to let that happen – not with Daisy in goal who made a blinding save.  Tottenham were now getting warm and so were the spectators, even I felt reassured that I had left my parka at home !! 

It wasn’t long before the Tottenham girls teamwork produced goal number 6, when Nikki spotted Phoebe in space who obligingly hit the ball home.  Endless work by Nikki saw her first goal of the match making it 7-0.  Nicole was taken off and Taylor came on in her place.  With Buntingford leaving Nikki with lots of space, the inevitable was to come.  Nikki received the ball and made a run for goal – scoring her second of the match from 20 yards making it 8-0.  Changes were made to freshen the side again and Ayse and Phoebe were off, with Charlotte and Harley on. 

The game continued to entertain the spectators with tremendous football from the girls and team effort enabling Charlotte to knock home her second of the game making the score 9-0.  Last season, the team (then Under 10s) never made double figures on the score sheet and with only a few minutes remaining we all wondered if that would be the case today.  But again Buntingford left Nikki with a dangerous amount of space and off she went to not only put in her hat-trick, but make history for this young team and make the score-line 10-0. Just as we thought it was all over ! Charlotte slotted home number 11 recording her hat-trick too.  

Jayne said after the game that it was impossible to pick Player of the Match as everyone played so well – the team work was impressive as was the passing and vision. 

Sue Bailey

Harley Keenlyside

To view Wayne St. Louis' match photos click here.

Other results :
Enfield Town Ladies A  1    Northwood  0
Hitchin Town Belles Purples  3    Hatfield Legion Belles  3
Luton Town Belles  10   Stevenage Borough Vixens  0

There was some excellent football played in the first few minutes with shots from Charlotte and Renata and superb team efforts once again from this young side.  It was not too long before the first goal of the match went into the back of the net.  Ayse Mustafa took a Spurs corner which was picked up by Taylor O’Leary who fired in a powerful shot, but a great reaction from the Garston keeper knocked it out, but only to Renata who took advantage and launched the ball into the net making it 1-0. 

Charlotte substituted for Nikki and Ayse for Hannah, as Garston made a quick comeback and scored from a corner to make the score 1-1.  The Spurs girls were determined not to repeat the nail biting scenario of the last meeting between these two teams and straight from the kick off, Renata took the ball through the Garston defence alone to restore the lead at 2-1.  With Renata being replaced by Ayse, Spurs hoped to keep ahead, but once more Garston scored making it 2-2 just on half time.

The second half started with Olivia, Georgia and Phoebe joining the team on the pitch.  It didn’t take long before Georgia passed to Renata, who hit a shot which was blocked and came out only to find Phoebe who strikes a lovely shot into the net making it 3-2.  Some changes again took place and Ayse and Renata went off to be replaced by Nikki and Shianne.  

Garston were determined not to let Spurs get away from them and came back again to level the score at 3-3.  Renata was introduced for Phoebe off and it looked like this was really going to be a repeat of the semi-final of last season.  With all supporters biting their nails on the sideline, Taylor scored for Spurs making it 4-3.  Yet another substitution took place as Taylor, after running her socks off, was given a break and Ayse got back in the action.  Shortly after that substitution, another switch of the players took place with Georgia making way for Charlotte.

Goalkeeper Daisy saw the Garston players closing in on her again, but this time she was not going to let them get near the Spurs goal by racing off her line and after a bit of a scuffle in the box, she tackles one of the players fair and square to knock the ball away in Spurs’ favour.  Renata chased after it and picked it up to score her hat-trick making it 5-3.  

With everyone willing the ref to blow the final whistle, Spurs were awarded a free kick which was taken by Renata, who, with a great strike,  saw the ball just travel a little too high over the cross bar. 

Finally, the whistle was a welcoming sound – no one had any more nails left to bite !

A good three points earned from an extremely exciting game and with so many changes to the side throughout, the girls still managed to gain a well-deserved result. 

Sue Bailey

Harley Keenlyside

Other results :

Denham United Wildcats  4    Enfield Town Ladies A  2
Hatfield Legion Belles  5    Buntingford Cougars  1
Northwood  0    Queens Park Rangers  3 
Stevenage Borough Vixens U11  2    Hitchin Town Belles U11 Purples  5

Harley Keenlyside

Other results :

Buntingford Cougars  2    Stevenage Borough Vixens  2
Garston Ladies  8    Northwood  0
Hitchin Town Belles Purples  1     Denham United Wildcats  9
Luton Town Belles  8    Hatfield Legion Belles  0

Renata Inniss lead the way with five of the goals and was supported by Charlotte Dean and Phoebe Ogunwobi who both hit four.  Ayse Mustafa and Nikki Hunnable also found the net as the Vixens met Spurs in irresistible form to record their record victory.

Harley Keenlyside

Other results :

Denham United Wildcats  1    Garston Ladies  2
Enfield Town Ladies A  0    Luton Town Belles  3
Hatfield Legion Belles  2    Queens Park Rangers  2
Northwood  -    Buntingford Cougars  -

The game began and straight away Phoebe played a very nice pass to Charlotte who had a shot on goal.  After some good work by the Spurs girls, the momentum was lost and Hitchin picked up the ball and carried it all the way to the Spurs half, where the Hitchin number 10 struck the ball very well and beat Daisy to give the home side the lead.  

Hitchin made yet another break for goal, but was stopped by the combined efforts of Olivia and Hannah.  The Spurs girls had not quite found the right gear, letting 90% of the action go Hitchin's way including a timely intervention by Hannah to break up another good attack from Hitchin.  Olivia made way for Ayse and Spurs pressed forward, with Renata having a good strike, but the Hitchin keeper gets a good hand to it and knocks the ball over the bar.  

Hitchin break again, but Daisy picked the ball up and put in a strong kick downfield. A corner to Tottenham was worked short by Renata to Nicole, passed back to Renata who hit  the ball home at last to make the score level at 1-1. Jayne substitutes Phoebe, with Georgia entering the fray.

It was pretty obvious that the team had received some sound advice at half time from manager Jayne Foster as they come out  after the break and got much more into the game showing greater determination.  Not long into the half, the teamwork paid off after a good move ended with Charlotte hitting the ball home making it 2-1.

Spurs looked on top of the game at last, despite some parent tantrums on the sideline (yes, you know who you are).  The Hitchin keeper had more than her fair share of work to do in this half, making some very good saves from all angles.  Renata spread the ball wide to Ayse who shot and scored making it 3-1. 

With so many chances in the second half, the Tottenham girls were playing like a team again and in the final moments of the game, Ayse made it 4-1 – a well deserved win in the end !!

Sue Bailey 
(With thanks to Colin Bruce for the first half commentary and Mal Keenlyside (2nd half) using the new Dictaphone donated by Rick Innis)  

Harley Keenlyside

Other results :

Garston Ladies  8    Buntingford Cougars  1
Hatfield Legion Belles  3    Enfield Town Ladies A  4
Luton Town Belles  8    Northwood  1
Queens Park Rangers  3    Denham United Wildcats  2

Other results :
Garston Ladies  6    Hatfield Legion Belles  0     
Enfield Town Ladies A  6    Hitchin Belles Purples  1
Buntingford Cougars  0    Luton Town Belles  8     
Northwood  1    Denham United Wildcats  2    
Stevenage Borough Vixens  0    Queens Park Rangers  10     

Tottenham looked strong from the kick off and it took little time for Taylor O'Leary, who bossed the midfield well throughout, to put Nikki Hunnable through to score a well executed goal.  Good passing and movement from Spurs set up Renata Inniss down the right, who had a long shot that squirmed through the goalkeeper and ended up in the back of the net.    

Good link up play between Georgia Bruce and Nikki made the next two goals, one for Taylor who hit the net with a long-range drive and Renata who finished off a good move in style.  Daisy O'Sullivan did well to keep alert after a quiet first half for her when she made a good save from a rare Northwood corner and Northwood had a couple more attacks, but the defensive pairing of Shianne St. Louis and Olivia Keown always looked safe, both contributing good tackles and distribution throughout the game.  

Charlotte Dean started the second half in style scoring three well-taken goals in a short space of time.     

Hannah Lyons gave a good balance to the team with her excellent runs and hard tackling down the left side of midfield, whilst Phoebe Ogunwobi always proved an awkward customer for the opposing team.  Nikki scored the eighth goal, Charlotte the ninth with Renata netting the tenth and final goal.

The sad news regarding the passing of Bill Nicholson OBE soon got around.  A minute’s silence was observed by both teams, managers and everyone else at the game in respect of the Spurs legend.

Ross Hunnable

Other results :

Hatfield Legion Belles  4    Stevenage Borough Vixens  0    
Hitchin Belles Purples  1    Buntingford Cougars  0    
Denham United Wildcats  2    Luton Town Belles  6     

This was the first cup tie that Tottenham U10’s had played and came just a day after they played for a hard fought win at Bushey in the League.  To add to Tottenham’s nerves was the knowledge that their opponents (London Girls) were an experienced U11 side who are currently top of the Kent League.  In addition to this Tottenham were without Hollie Watson, who with Vicki Blake have formed a defensive partnership that has ensured that Tottenham have conceded just one goal in six league games.  Another difference for Tottenham was that this game was a 30 minute per half game and Tottenham’s previous league games had been 20 minutes per half.  How would they perform? 

Tottenham’s manager Gerry McLucas knew from the start that on paper this would be the strongest side that his young Tottenham team had played.  Tottenham lined up with Lily Tyrimos in goal, Vicki Blake at left back, Katie Bell at centre back and Charlotte McLucas at right back.  The midfield consisted of Bobbi Cubberley and Marva Kreel with Laura Newby playing up front.  Paige McHenry started as substitute. 

From the kick off Tottenham were under pressure with London Girls just shading the midfield battle.  London Girls came close on a few occasions early in the game, but the Tottenham defence stood firm with some timely tackles being made by Charlotte McLucas.  After five minutes, Tottenham had conceded three corners and on each occasion they managed to clear the ball, with the last corner causing some problems for Lily in goal, but again Charlotte was there to clear the lines for Tottenham. 

It was now Tottenham’s turn to put a few passes together and from a goal kick by Charlotte, Tottenham moved quickly towards the half way line and Katie Bell released the ball to Laura Newby who ran at speed with the ball into the London penalty box, with a defender bearing down on her, Laura struck her shot goalwards but it was saved by the London keeper. 

This seemed to spark London into action and from the goal kick they moved the ball up through the Tottenham midfield towards the penalty area.  The London number 7 received the ball on the right hand edge of the penalty area and hit an unstoppable shot which flew into the top right corner in the 9th minute.  Although London continued to press forward, they found that the new look defence stood firm and Lily, who had made more saves in the first half than she had in all previous six games, was in inspired form saving well from London’s long and close range shots.   

Paige replaced Marva on 14 minutes and a good exchange of passing between Paige and Laura ended with a square pass to Bobbi saw Tottenham’s best chance of the half well saved by their keeper and the score stayed at 0-1 at the break.  

From the kick off Tottenham again found themselves under pressure and it wasn’t long before a short goal kick was punished by London who made it 0-2.   

Most of the second half was a battle in midfield with both attacks breaking free regularly. Bobbi, Paige and Marva stuck to the task of closing down London’s midfield. Lily made some excellent saves in the second half diving at the feet of the London attackers and one memorable save that brought applause from both the home and away supporters was when London broke free of the defence and a well struck shot that looked goal bound was tipped over the bar, a truly fantastic save ! 

Tottenham continued to play on the break and although they had several chances their two hot shots Bobbi and Laura could not force the ball home.  

London added a further two goals towards the end of the second half and could have added more had Charlotte, Vicki, Katie and Lily not been on the top of their games.  

This was great experience for the girls with every one of them playing a vital part in the team’s performance. At the end of the match there wasn’t one sad face around, which was a reflection on just how well they had done against this U11 team. Man of the match was a popular choice with all the Tottenham players and went to Charlotte McLucas for her determined defending and forging runs through the midfield.

Paul Newby

Awaiting match report.

Other results :
Stevenage Borough Vixens  0    Enfield Town Ladies A  5    
Luton Town Belles  2    Garston Ladies  1      
Northwood  2    Hitchin Belles Purples  0    
Queens Park Rangers  -    Buntingford Cougars  -    

Nikki Hunnable was the scorer of the sole Tottenham goal as the Under-11s slipped to a narrow defeat at the hands of local rivals Enfield Town.

Harley Keenlyside

Other results :
Garston Ladies  3    Queens Park Rangers  5    
Hatfield Legion Belles  2    Denham United Wildcats  1    
Luton Town Belles  7    Hitchin Belles Purples  1
Buntingford Cougars  0     Northwood  5-    

It was a blustery Sunday with playing conditions similar to last week - muddy and cold.  Spurs Ladies were straight into the attack and were eventually rewarded with a well-executed goal by Taylor from a corner kick.  Spurs kept up the pressure at the London Girls sturdy defence and made it 0-2 when Renata swerved through three defenders to slot the ball home.  Determination for the London Girls saw Spurs Ladies concede a goal from a free kick outside the penalty area to make the score 1-2 at half time. 

From the second half kick off, it was obvious that both teams were hungry for a place in the final.  Great defending Olivia and Nicole plus hard attacking from Taylor, Ayse, Nikki and Renata kept the London Girls on their toes before they manage to scramble the equaliser with minutes to go before the full time whistle. 

Ayse sustained and injury and was unable to take the line up for extra time. Daisy produced some critical saves before Renata took the ball into the opposition penalty area, passed to Nikki whose shot was blocked but Charlotte made no mistake in putting Spurs ahead 2-3. 

Substitutions saw Shianne in defence and Georgia in attack, which added an extra buzz to the Spurs determination to win.  In the second half of extra time it was Charlotte who slotted home her second goal after a strong charge from Nikki, Taylor and Renata broke down the London Girls defence. 

It was a good team effort all around from which Spurs Ladies emerged 2-4 victors - and well deserved at that.

Ricardo Inniss

Other results :
Stevenage Borough Vixens  0    Denham United Wildcats  9    
Northwood  0    Hatfield Legion Belles  1     
Queens Park Rangers  6    Hitchin Belles Purples  1    
Enfield Town Ladies A  4    Buntingford Cougars  0    

From the kick off, Spurs put pressure on the Hatfield defence, who was able to keep them at bay for the first 10 minutes.  Some good passing, with through balls from Taylor to Renata kept the Hatfield keeper busy on three occasions.  Spurs took the lead when Taylor made a surging run at the Hatfield defence and shot at goal, where Phoebe was on hand to tuck away the rebound from the keeper.  Renata and Taylor was substituted for Ayse and Shianne and the change produced a goal from Ayse to put Spurs Ladies 2-0 with five minutes to go for half time.  Good passing from the Spurs Ladies looked like producing more goals with several attempts coming from Hannah, Nicole and Phoebe, but they were kept out by the resolute Legion defence.

The second half kick off lined up with Georgia, Shianne, Renata, Phoebe, Charlotte, Olivia and Daisy.  Hannah did some good covering work on the wing to supply more ammunition for Renata, Phoebe and Charlotte, before Renata was taken off injured and substituted by Taylor.  The Hatfield attack was kept in check with Taylor in their way every time they tried to mount an attack.  The closest Hatfield came to scoring was from a corner kick, which was volleyed over the crossbar.

Twenty minutes into play of the second half, Olivia was substituted with Nicole.  Hannah, Taylor and Georgia pressured the Hatfield goalkeeper into producing some good saves before Georgia increased the Spurs Ladies lead to 3-0.  Charlotte was substituted with Ayse, who kept up the momentum with good support from Hannah.

It was another a good all around team effort from Spurs Ladies to secure a win.

Collin Bruce

Other results :
Stevenage Borough Vixens  -    Luton Town Belles  -     
Enfield Town Ladies A  -    Queens Park Rangers  -    
Hitchin Belles Purples  -    Garston Ladies  -     
Denham United Wildcats  -    Buntingford Cougars  -