Tottenham Hotspur Ladies FC -

Under-12s reports 2004-05

Spurs Under-12s were left ruing a poor start that saw them 3-0 down after 20 minutes although credit must be given to Enfield's pacy forwards that caused considerable problems for the Spurs back line.

With half time approaching, Rhiannon Kelly provided the perfect tonic as she pulled one back for Spurs, squeezing her shot in at the near post to send Spurs in at half time with renewed optimism.

The second half saw Spurs resurgent in an effort to restore their pride and it was Rhiannon Kelly who really raised the tempo by firing in after some good work by Lindsey Cockle.  With their tails up Spurs pressed for the equaliser but Enfield proved resilient to the end and with Spurs pushing forward the defence was exposed and Enfield put the game out of reach.

Kevin Fenn

Cambridge City  7    Barking Ladies  0     
Watford Ladies  3     Hitchin Belles Purples  0    
Stevenage Borough Vixens  5    Garston Blues  1     

Spurs U12s were determined to bounce back after a disappointing result last week and they can be justifiably proud of this performance against one of the best teams in this league.

A very even first half was goalless at the break and nothing to pick between the two teams with Cambridge very resilient and hard to break down.  Spurs upped the tempo in the second half and Aimee Rose gave Spurs the lead they deserved when she fired into the roof of the net from inside the area.  Soon after Aimee took advantage of some indecision in the box to tap in from close range to put Spurs 2-0 up.

Cambridge did not let their heads drop and Spurs were constantly under siege in the last ten minutes before Rhiannon Kelly put the result beyond doubt with the last kick of the game, firing in after a run on goal.

Kevin Fenn

Enfield Town Ladies  6     Barking Ladies  1     
Garston Blues  0     Queens Park Rangers  10   

Spurs Under-12s had to come from behind in this League Cup tie to earn a victory with some good goals.

The visitors took the initiative in the seventh minute, when they struck a shot past Nicola Davey from close range following a scramble following a corner.  Tottenham hit back with an Aimee Rose volley just wide from Sinnead Gurry's cross and then Lindsay Cockle drew a save from the Bushey goalie.  It was in the 16th minute that Tottenham equalised with a goal from Aimee Rose.  Sinnead's tackle took the ball into the Bushey area and Aimee was there to finish crisply.

The same combination took Tottenham into the lead when Sinnead passed through to Aimee, who shot home from 12 yards out.  At this stage, Spurs were pressing forward with some good moves.  Rhiannon Kelly ran half the length of the pitch and hit a firm shot that the keeper caught, while Aimee brought another good save from the keeper to earn a corner.  From the resulting cross, Paige Barnard met the ball with her head, but it cleared the bar.

At the turnaround, Assistant Manager John Goodman advised the forwards about getting caught in the offside trap that Bushey had been employing and with both sides pushing up, sometimes play was compressed into a space ten yards wither side of the halfway line.  The strikers seemed to have learned their lesson, as it took only three minutes of the second half to add to the lead.

As Rhiannon drove an effort goalwards, it was blocked and Aimee was there to knock the ball home for her hat-trick and to put Tottenham 3-1 up.  Rhiannon had a shot of her own shortly afterwards and it just flew wide of the right hand post as she cut in from the left, this coming just before Bushey had a good headed chance that flew wide of the mark.  Unfortunately, Rhiannon was just too high with a powerful drive as she burst through after good interplay between Katie Goodland and Lindsay, who made the goalkeeper work to save a low shot and Aimee hit a goal-kick back outside the post.

With 22 minutes of the second half gone, Aimee played a low cross into the area and Lindsay flicked the ball up on the edge of the six yard box and volleyed low inside the post to score a neatly constructed goal.  Within three minutes, Spurs had added another, this time from a Sinnead Gurry corner that landed on player of the match Paige Barnard's head and she powered home her header for 5-1.

Bushey kept pushing forward, but Spurs were passing out from the back very well and hit on the break, culminating in Rhiannon getting her well deserved goal.  Paige played the ball forward to Lindsay, who flicked it out to Tessa Osborne on the left wing and her first time pass put Rhiannon through to hit a low drive past the keeper to seal a convincing win.

Group A
Hatfield Youth  1    Northwood  2
Hitchin Town Belles  1    Harpenden  2

Group B
Hemel Hempstead Town Girls  0    Hemel Hempstead  6

Group C
Barking Ladies  3     Harvesters  2     
Garston Blues  2      Enfield Town Ladies  4

Group D     
Luton Town Belles  0    Queens Park Rangers  4    
Watford Ladies  2     St. Albans City Youth  0

A deliberate handball by Hemel Hempstead changed the pattern of this game with Aimee Rose converting from the penalty spot.  Up until that point, there was nothing to separate the teams as they both failed to get any fluency going in the early stages.

The goal sparked Spurs into action with Rhiannon Kelly exploiting space on the flank with some forceful runs through the defence one of which culminated with a ferocious shot that rattled the crossbar. Soon afterwards
she made up for her disappointment by finding another gap through the defence before hitting the ball under the goalkeeper into the back of the net.

Sinnead Gurry and Zoë Jackson started to marshal the midfield forcing the play into the oppositions half and it was Aimee Rose who broke through the back four to calmly slot the ball past the advancing goalkeeper to make the score 3-0.

Katie Goodland was overjoyed to score her first goal in a Spurs shirt after coming close on two occasions in the second half.  It was her run and shot on goal that started a goalmouth scramble and she was in the thick of it as she tucked the ball home.

Sinnead finished the scoring from a corner that swung into the near post hitting the goalie and a defender on its way in.

Kevin Fenn

Group A
Northwood  0    Hitchin Town Belles  2    
Stevenage Borough Vixens  2    Harpenden  4

Group B
Potters Bar Crusaders  0    Bushey Rangers  5

Group C
Cambridge City  4     Harvesters  2     
Enfield Town Ladies  2      Barking Ladies  0

Group D
St. Albans City Youth  5    Luton Town Belles  3    
Watford Ladies  2     Queens Park Rangers  0    

Group A
Hitchin Town Belles  0      Stevenage Borough Vixens  1     
Harpenden  15    Hatfield Youth  0      

Group C
Barking Ladies  0    Cambridge City  8      
Harvesters  0    Garston Blues  1  

A good solid display saw Spurs Ladies U12 win by a comfortable margin against Potters Bar Crusaders at Fred Knights today. 

The first goal came after seven minutes and this was followed at regular intervals as Spurs took control.

Aimee Rose scored the first two goals, initially when she shot past the goalkeeper after a rebound and secondly as she met a cross from Rhiannon Kelly tapping in from close range. Lucky Di Biasio then scooped the ball over the goalkeeper to make it 3-0.

Katie Goodland and Rhiannon Kelly were very impressive with some great bursts of pace that continually troubled the Crusaders defence, but it was Sinnead Gurry who was the architect of the day continually making the right pass to fellow players and into space.

Lindsey Cockle was rewarded for her persistence as she placed the ball wide of the keeper for 4-0 before Aimee Rose mesmerised the defence before slotting the ball home to complete a first half hat-trick.

Lindsey was on target just before the break as she raced 25 yards with the ball to sink past the goalkeeper.

After the interval Potters Bar defended deep with plenty of bodies behind the ball and rarely attacked Spurs. The girls were patient but were thwarted by Crusaders goalkeeper who saved well from Lindsey, Aimee and Jodie Fenn.

Jodie eventually broke the second half drought when she scored with a fierce drive from close range and this was soon followed by a delightful goal from Tessa Osborne who ran with the ball from the left wing to score. Both Tessa and Jodie continued to create havoc on the wings with fine delivery and interconnections. Aimee Rose took her goal tally for the day to four after she rounded a defender to push the ball over the line.

Zoë Jackson added her name to the goal scorers by unleashing a tremendous strike from the edge of the area that screamed into the top of the net and Tessa finished the scoring with a fine run and shot to make the total 11-0.

No bouncebackability from Potters Bar but they have to be congratulated for their sportsmanship.

KEVIN FENN

Group A
Hatfield Youth  0     Hitchin Town Belles  4     
Northwood  2    Stevenage Borough Vixens  11     

Group B
Bushey Rangers  10    Hemel Hempstead Town Girls  0    

Group C
Garston Blues  -  Barking Ladies  -    
Enfield Ladies  4    Cambridge City  6

Group D
Luton Town Belles  1    Watford Ladies  2     
Queens Park Rangers 12    St. Albans Youth  1

Tottenham Ladies U12 eased into the knock-out stages of this competition by beating Hemel Hempstead Town seven-nil today and with three players rested there were good run-outs for those vying for team places.

After a subdued start the team increased the tempo and captain Zoë Jackson had an amazing run, beating four players before unleashing a drive that cannoned off the post. This was followed by the first goal of the game scored by Lucky Di Biasio striking the ball from the edge of the area. Soon after Paige Barnard and Olivia Rodney both had shots on goal with Paige also hitting the post from her shot from 15 yards.

Just before half time Rhiannon Kelly continued her current goalscoring form by dribbling past the defence before sliding the ball home just wide of the goalkeeper.

After half time Tessa Osbourne and Jodie Fenn were introduced to midfield and both girls continually caused problems down both flanks with link-up play, closing down defenders and creating space to the benefit of their team-mates.

Zoë Jackson got the second half goals flowing when she ran though the defence and shot straight at the goalkeeper who could only palm the ball upwards for Zoë to head past her into an empty net.

There then followed yet another hat-trick from Aimee Rose as she found more space in the second half. The first was a shot inside the box that Tessa arguably helped over the line; the second came after a great pass from Zoë, before she ran past the defenders to hit the ball wide of the keeper and the third was a quick turn and strike that went over the keeper into the roof of the net.

With five minutes to go Tessa and Jodie were replaced in midfield by Belinda Sugarman and Tayla Goodman and it was Tayla who took advantage of space on the left as she cracked a left footed shot across the keeper into the net.

KEVIN FENN

Group A
Stevenage Borough Vixens  5     Hatfield Youth  1     
Harpenden  3    Northwood  0     

Group B
Hemel Hempstead  9    Potters Bar Crusaders  0    

Group C
Harvesters  1     Enfield Ladies  4    
Cambridge City  9      Garston Blues  0   

It was R Kelly who sang 'I believe I can fly' but it was another R Kelly (Rhiannon) who was flying in this game. The pacy forward scored an amazing six goals as Spurs bagged eleven against Stevenage.

Her first hat-trick came within a seven minute spell with the first coming after she cut in from the left to drill home, followed by a tap in from a Laila El Haddad cross before bagging a third with a replica of her first goal.

Rhiannon then made it four for her and Spurs when her perseverance was rewarded, calmly tucking home from close range after a scramble in the box.

Although Stevenage were stunned, they were still prepared to battle and eventually found a gap in the defence after Tessa Osborne tripped.  The shot on goal bought out a tremendous reaction save by Nicola Davey who palmed the ball away from close range only to see it followed up and into the net.

Spurs then made it 5-1 before the break when Lindsey Cockle was felled in the box after jinking through the defence with Aimee Rose converting from the penalty spot.

A good Spurs debut from Andrea Edobor was sealed with a goal shortly after half time, when she cleverly stopped the ball in mid-flight before hitting an unstoppable shot into the top left hand corner to make it 6-1.

The next three goals came in quick succession with Rhiannon drilling in from the right, Lindsey tapping in from close range and Aimee following up a Lindsey shot.

The goal of the game came from Kelly when she received the ball deep in her own half before running the entire length of the pitch before rifling home.

There was just enough time for Aimee to secure her hat-trick with a chip over the goalie before the whistle blew.

Special praise for Jodie, Tayla and Tessa (in for injured captain Zoë Jackson) who put in good defensive performances spearheaded by the commanding Paige Barnard and the midfield dynamos Lucky Di Biasio and Sinnead Gurry.

Hitchin Belles Purples  2    Enfield Town Ladies  6     
Barking Ladies  0     Watford Ladies  6     
Cambridge City  5     Garston Blues  0     

A below par performance against 9-man Garston saw Spurs ladies take the points winning by a comfortable 7-1 margin.

Spurs cruised into a 3-0 margin with an unstoppable left footed shot from Andrea Edobor, a classy run and finish from in-form Rhiannon Kelly and a strike from close range by Lindsey Cockle.

With Tessa Osborne forced to retire from the game after a knock Spurs struggled to regain their fluency but did manage to score once more before half time. This came through an Andrea Edobor strike from 15 yards and was soon followed by a goal conceded after a back pass was handled.

Spurs improved in the second half with the pairing of Andrea Edobor and Lindsey Cockle forming a good understanding and Jodie Fenn and Rhiannon Kelly providing the width.  Lucky Di Biasio and Zoë Jackson had good performances at the heart of midfield.

The breakthrough in the second half came when a Rhiannon Kelly cross was sliced by a defender into her own net to make the score 5-1 and it was another cross from Rhiannon that provided Lindsey with her second from close range.

Spurs went down to 10 (wo)men in the second half when Paige was forced to retire from the game but the impressive Andrea Edobor made it seven when she claimed her first hat-trick near the end of the game with a fierce drive.

Kevin Fenn

Barking Ladies  3     Stevenage Borough Vixens  3     
Harvesters  4     Enfield Town Ladies  2