Tottenham Hotspur Ladies FC -

Under-12  match reports 2005-06

Spurs Ladies were without their defender Harley Keenlyside due to illness and had Renata Inniss, Georgia Bruce and Charlotte Dean on the bench at kick off. 

Spurs Ladies started on a positive note with the ground conditions favouring their style of play.  Taylor O’Leary scored Spurs’ first goal in the 10^th minute and then again in the 15^th minute from a delivery by Nikki Hunnable on the right wing.  Molly Kmita had a slight limp and was substituted by Renata Inniss after five minutes play.  Spurs Ladies took control of the first half with some good ball passing to the delight of their manager and the girls left the pitch 2-0 up at the half time whistle. 

The second half kicked off with Georgia Bruce and Charlotte Dean taking their places in the line-up instead of Whitney Tango and Hannah Lyons.  Two minutes into the second half, Renata sent a searching ball to Nikki Hunnable who converted it for a Spurs 3-0 lead. 

Northwood were gunning for their first goal and made a charge past the Spurs mid-defence only to find Daisy O’Sullivan making a good save in the 10^th minute.  Spurs Ladies continued passing the ball around with more confidence and in the 15^th minute Georgia Bruce threaded a ball through the Northwood defence to Renata to score Spurs fourth goal. 

Shianne St. Louis, who as always battling in defence, sustained an injury and was substituted by Hannah Lyons.  Ayse Mustafa and Taylor were hard at work in midfield, whilst Hannah and Rosie Kmita gave good support on the wings. Two more efforts were made by the Northwood attack but were halted by Katie Mills and Charlotte Dean.  Whitney Tango substituted Ayse with 20 minutes play gone. 

Northwood made another attempt at goal, only to be thwarted just outside the penalty area by an Olivia Keown challenge and a minute later, Daisy made another good save to make sure she kept a clean sheet this time.  It was good passing again that gave Spurs their fifth goal.  Katie collected the ball at the halfway line and delivered it to Charlotte who saw Renata on the move and slotted the ball through the middle of three Northwood defenders.  Despite the hustle from a Northwood player, Renata kept control of the ball, ran toward the right-hand side of the Northwood goal and netted the ball in the left-hand side in the 28^th minute. 

A total transformation by Spurs Ladies in comparison to their match last week against Hatfield Belles and hopefully, a good sign of things to come. 

RICARDO INNISS

Hatfield Legion Belles  0     QPR  5    
Bushey Rangers  2      St. Martins  3    
Bedwell Rangers  2     Denham United  2    

Spurs Ladies were without Molly Kmita due to a foot injury and all the players and supporters wish her a speedy recovery. 

Tottenham started on a positive note, but were beaten to the punch when the Bedwell Rangers headed the ball into the Spurs net after 10 minutes play.  A Spurs counter-attacked a minute later saw Renata Inniss break through to level the score at 1-1.  Spurs Ladies then woke up and played some good touch football all over the pitch.  Taylor O’Leary and Ayse Mustafa were giving good support in midfield by winning most of the ball from the opposition.  Whitney Tango added two goals in the 25 and 28^th minute through chances created by Nikki Hunnable and Georgia Bruce. 

The second half kicked off with the Spurs girls continuing with another display of passing which pleased their manager.  Spurs fourth goal came from Nikki Hunnable who collected the ball from Ayse Mustafa, made space for her self on the left wing, turned her player and shot past the Bedwell keeper into the right side of the goal.

Seven minutes later, Renata got her second gaol and Spurs fifth.  Georgia Bruce, Renata Inniss and Rosie Kmita were substituted, while Daisy was relieved from goalkeeping duties and Shianne St Louis took over the gloves. 

In the 23^rd minute Daisy drove the ball into the net with her left foot to put Spurs 6-1 ahead and then Charlotte Dean scored in the 30^th and 35^th minute of the game with both assists coming from Ayse Mustafa. 

RICARDO INNISS

Luton Town Belles  6     Garston Ladies  0     
Enfield Town Ladies  4     Hatfield Legion Belles  0    
Northwood  4     Bushey Rangers  1     

This time, their opponents were London Girls, who they overcame at the semi-final stage last season and once more proved difficult foes.  The weather was cold, as a chilly wind made control tricky, but the weak sun warmed the crowd gathered in the grandstand.  For the bulk of the first half, Tottenham pressured the London Girls goal, from the second minute when Nikki Hunnable shot wide and a few minutes after when Taylor O'Leary hit a shot that brought the London keeper into action for the first time.  While Spurs pressed forward, they were aware of the speedy breakaways that London could launch and in the sixth minute, one such move saw Daisy O'Sullivan come out to face a forward and the ball got past her, but Harley Keenlyside was there to tidy up.

When the play moved to the other end, Spurs earned a corner and as it was played in, it appeared to strike the arm of a London defender, but the referee played on.  However, as the ball bobbled around in the area, the match official spotted another handball and pointed to the spot.  Nikki took responsibility by taking the spot-kick, but shot just to high and London had a let-off.

Charlotte Dean was proving a handful on the left of the attack and was working the line well and Spurs' passing down the right hand side opened up the London Girls defence and Ayse Mustafa, Katie Mills, Taylor and Georgia Bruce made inroads up this flank.  One move saw Ayse's pass inside the defender release Georgia and her shot was saved by the keeper.  Meanwhile, the defence had to be on their toes and Molly Kmita did well to send a defensive header into Daisy's arms. 

Georgia had a good run up the right wing in the fifteenth minute and crossed for Renata Inniss to run onto it and shoot, but the goalie was equal to it.  It was Renata who had the next effort six minutes later, but this time it was off target and as the half was coming to a close London Girls got into the game more.  Twice the ball fizzed across the face of goal without an opponent to put it into the Tottenham net.

At half-time, Whitney Tango replaced Georgia Bruce to add some power up front and the half started as the match had done, with Nikki having the first effort on goal in the opening minutes.  Again, like the first half, it was Harley who did some good covering that stopped London going through on goal.  This was followed by a long ball from London Girls to a forward, who looked offside, but the ref waved play on.  Also playing on was Shianne St. Louis, who tracked back to deny a goal when the forward had managed to get the ball past Daisy.  Shianne's clearance cost Tottenham a corner, but not a goal.

Having cleared the corner, Tottenham attacked, but the ball ended up with the goalie after Renata's shot was saved.  However, the referee spotted that she had stepped outside her area when drop-kicking the ball out and awarded a direct free-kick for handball outside her area.  The ball was struck well from the free-kick by Nikki and it went up over the wall and over the keeper into the roof of the net to give Spurs the lead in the 39th minute.

Spurs had a similar free-kick given against them when Daisy handled outside the edge of the area, but London Girls failed to make as much from the dead-ball situation and Spurs hit back, when the Spurs player of the match Taylor threaded a fine ball through the middle of the London defence for Whitney to move onto and her shot finished a yard or two wide.

Olivia Keown and Hannah Lyons came on to replace Molly Kmita and Charlotte Dean to help add fresh legs to the side in the closing ten minutes.  A low right wing cross from London Girls fell to a player near the penalty spot, but it was blazed way over the bar and Spurs made their opponents pay with five minutes remaining.

Ayse put a great through ball down the middle and Whitney used her strength to hold off a challenge from a defender and, as she approached the edge of the area, let go an early low shot that beat the keeper to make the score 2-0. 

The last five minutes saw Spurs hold onto possession and with one last Spurs corner coming in, the final whistle blew to signal the acquisition of another piece of silverware for this team and a third for the club already this season. 

Congratulations to the Spurs girls who played the ball around really well on a bobbly surface and commiserations to the London Girls side, who were valiant opponents.  And a special word for Rosie Kmita, who was unable to be included in the fourteen players for the game, but has played a part in the team's success this season.

St. Martins 4  -     Hatfield Legion Belles  1    
Bushey Rangers  2      Northwood  4    

Spurs Ladies had a full squad except the injured Molly Kmita for the return match with St. Martins Girls.  The weather and pitch conditions were far better than when the teams met previously and the first half kicked off with Renata Inniss, Charlotte Dean and Katie Mills on the bench.

This time it was Spurs Ladies who got off to a flyer with Whitney Tango scoring in the first two minutes of the game and just three minutes later Ayse Mustafa increased Spurs goal tally to 2-0.  Renata and Charlotte substituted Taylor O’Leary and Nikki Hunnable in the twentieth minute, but they could not help Spurs extend their score against a pugnacious St. Martins defence when the whistle blew for half time. 

Taylor O’Leary, Whitney Tango and Georgia Bruce were benched for the start of the second half, in which St. Martins battled hard to penetrate the Spurs defence without any joy until the 50^th minute of the game when a free kick was awarded just outside the area.  The St. Martins striker drove the ball high into the right hand corner of the Spurs net, giving Daisy O’Sullivan no chance of a save to make the score 2-1. 

RICARDO INNISS 

Denham United  0     Luton Town Belles  5     
Northwood  5     Hatfield Legion Belles  0    
QPR  -     Bushey Rangers  -     

Spurs had a full team with Molly Kmita returning from injury and to start the game Olivia Keown, Georgia Bruce, Charlotte Dean and Hannah Lyons cheered on their team from the bench in the first half. 

The first half was a transformation of when the two teams last met.  Spurs took the game to Luton and dominated from the start.  Good passing and defending was highly praised by their manager and echoed by their supporters, with Spurs unlucky not to go ahead earlier when Whitney’s shot was well saved by the Luton keeper. 

The second half kicked off in similar fashion to the first, but Luton were having their fair share of attacks at the Spurs defence.  As Spurs broke away to the other end, Whitney’s shot was blasted at the keeper, who produced another good save.  Minutes later, our striker thought she had the first goal .. only to find that the ball struck the left hand goal post. 

Luton had three chances in the last ten minutes of the match, but were unable to convert any of the crosses. 

Maybe next time Lady Luck will smile on Spurs if they produce the kind of football they displayed today. 

The whole team was named as player of the match for their outstanding work.

RICKY INNISS

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The Under-12s travelled to Denham Wildcats for the quarter final of the HGFL Cup.  The pitch was firm and the sky was overcast with blips of sunshine and blustery winds.   

Spurs Ladies were without their goal-keeper Daisy O’Sullivan so Taylor O’Leary took the gloves for the first half.  Denham went ahead in the first 20 minutes with a shot from way outside the penalty area, which was assisted by the wind, so the Taylor had no chance of getting a hand on the ball. 

Renata Inniss took the gloves for the second half of the game, whilst Taylor O’Leary took up her normal position in midfield.

With the wind now blowing Tottenham's way, second half goals from Georgia Bruce, Ayse Mustafa and Whitney Tango secured a place for Spurs in the semi-final of the Cup.

RICARDO INNISS

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