Tottenham Hotspur Ladies FC -

Under-13s reports 2004-05

The Under 13's continued their successful run with a comprehensive 14-0 victory over Division One Leaders Hatfield Youth in the HGFL Cup.

Natalie Richardson and Robyn Downie lead the way with four goals apiece with these were added to by goals from Hannah Mills, Leesa Shields, Riana Soobadoo, Sophie Petros, Hoshi Cooper-Hutchinson (pen) and an own goal, as the team continue to top their group.

Group A
Garston Blues  -    Charlton Pinnacle Scholars  -    
St. Albans City Youth  0    Queens Park Rangers  13     

Group B
Denham United  5    Garston Purples  1    

Group C
Enfield Town Ladies  1     Luton Town Belles  2    

Group D    
Bushey Rangers  0    Princes Park  2    
Harvesters  14    Northwood  0    

The Under-13s struggled against ten-man Garston Purples and their well-drilled offside trap, but eventually wore down the visitors.

With the Spurs players being victims of the linesman's flag when they strayed offside, they were restricted to long shots in the early stages, but Alex Keown's cross found Robyn Downie, who met it on the volley, but could not keep her effort down.  Robyn went close with another effort and Riana Soobadoo brought a save out fo the Purples keeper.  Some good work on the left wing between Stavroulla Panayiotou and Natalie Richardson ended with the latter pulling a shot across the keeper and wide of the goal in the 18th minute.

Robyn was a threat all day, but struck another effort powerfully, but too high before finally beating the keeper when she chased a ball through the middle and prodded past the goalie as she advanced in the 25th minute.  

The lead last all of three minutes, as Garston pushed forward and a long high shot from 25 yards out sailed over Ricole Vyse and into the net for the equaliser.

The game swayed Tottenham's way again in the 30th minute, when Riana put in a low cross from the left wing and Downie tucked it away neatly from close range and then two minutes later, a through ball to Natalie Richardson was slipped past the goalkeeper with more accuracy this time and it was 3-1.

The second half was only two minutes old when Natalie doubled her total for the day.  Her initial shot was saved, but in the second phase of play, she got in another shot that eluded the keeper to score Spurs' fourth.

A period of Spurs offsides broke up the play and it was only in the 20th minute of the half when Stavroulla put in Kynarah Hunte, who neatly turned and shot low past the keeper to bring the score to 5-1.  

Tottenham continued to move forward and Downie twice went close, before Ky's cross five minutes form the end, dropped over the goalie and hit the far post.  Riana tried to force the ball home, but a defender cleared it and the keeper stood tall to keep Riana's follow-up shot out.

It was a tough task for Spurs to break down the Garston defence and full credit to them for holding out in difficult circumstances.

Group A
Hoddesdon Owls  15    St. Albans City Youth  0        

Group B
Garston Purples  0    Bedwell Rangers  5

Group C
Luton Town Belles  13    Letchworth Garden City Eagles  0    

Group D    
Bushey Rangers  9    Northwood  0    
Princes Park  4    Stevenage Borough Juniors  1    

League :
Bedwell Rangers  1    Harvesters  3    

The Under 13's played a well contested friendly fixture against a strong Leyton Orient Centre of Excellence XI.

Spurs started slowly and found themselves two goals down early on, but gradually worked their way back into the game. Robyn Downie put back Spurs in contention with a well taken goal in the second period and Spurs also missed a penalty, but Orient stepped up a gear and scored a further two goals in the closing stages.

Group A
Charlton Pinnacle Scholars  2    Queens Park Rangers  3     

Group B
Bedwell Rangers  0      Denham United  3    
Garston Purples  0      Hatfield Town  2

Group C
Letchworth Garden City Eagles  5    Baldock Town  1    
Barking   2     Enfield Town Ladies  7     

Group D    
Princes Park  0    Harvesters  4    
Stevenage Borough Juniors  -    Bushey Rangers  -    (match awarded to Bushey)

Going into this game both teams were undefeated in five and six League and Cup games respectively.

Spurs started the brighter and made probing runs at the Harvesters defence, but without success.

Harvester’s first attack came with a long ball over the Spurs midfield and with the ball bouncing towards goal, a mix up between the advancing Ricole Vyse and her defence lead to a Harvesters forward looping the ball over the keeper and into the empty net. 

This seemed to spark Spurs into life and a very good cross from Leesa Shields on the left could not be met by either Natalie Richardson or Robyn Downie.

Spurs by now were exerting more and more pressure on the home team's defence.  From a Harvesters throw in, Hannah Mills won the ball and with decisive passing put the ball through to Natalie, who in turn laid the ball on for Robyn to charge at the retreating defence and with cool finishing put the ball in the net past the diving keeper to make it 1-1.

Spurs were not having it all their own way and Harvesters won a series of corners, causing some heart stopping moments, but the Spurs defence cleared their lines.  The Tottenham side were attacking down the left hand side with great effect as the hardworking Leesa made some surging runs and it was her free kick from just inside the halfway line that the Harvesters keeper dropped and with a certain goal looming she regained the ball just on the line.  It was almost a Roy Carroll moment !!  Not two minutes later, Hannah was chopped down from behind and the resulting free kick was again taken by Leesa and the superb delivery was met by Robyn.   The initial shot hit the keeper, but the striker collected the rebound and put the ball in the bottom right corner of the net to give Spurs a lead for the first time just as the half-time whistle was blown.  

In the second half, Spurs were back on the attack almost from the kick-off.  Downie was put in on goal again, only to see the keeper make a very good save and from the resulting corner, Harvesters scrambled the ball away and from the second corner Spurs again were unable to penetrate the defence.  

The girls were really piling on the pressure and from a throw Natalie put the ball through for a very impressive Robyn, whose shot hit a prostrate defender and Rebecca hit the rebound at goal.  But for the keeper's heroics it would have been a fine goal.  

It was time for Joy Dutch to enter the fray and she had been very patient standing in the cold waiting her chance.  Hannah was dominating in midfield prompting attacks and she floated a ball into the box which hit the impish Sophie Petros and Robyn was there to sweep the ball home to make it 3-1 and to complete her hat-trick. 

From the kick-off, Spurs won the ball and forced a corner.  Leesa popped the ball into the box for Robyn to head on to Alex, who deftly put the ball up for Robyn to head her and Spurs' fourth goal.  

The Spurs back four had to be on their toes and Harvesters to their credit did not give up and if not for Ricole’s somewhat unconventional save, they could have got one back.  With five minutes left on the clock Robyn’s powerful run down the right was met by Sophie, but she skied her shot over the goal, which was a shame as she had run herself into the ground throughout the game.  

With the game almost over, a free-kick was awarded to Harvesters and the referee saw something dangerous about this a promptly booked Robyn, which was a shame as the game had been played in a very sporting way.

League
Denham United  1    Luton Town Belles   3    
Charlton Pinnacle Scholars  2     Enfield Town Ladies  7  

League Cup
Group A
Queens Park Rangers  18     Garston Blues  0    

The Under 13's continued on to their impressive winning run with an impressive 5-1 home victory against a strong Denham side.

Natalie Richardson opened the scoring after five minutes with a sweetly taken goal.  Spurs went two goals up when influential midfielder Hannah Mills completed a mazy run with an excellent finish.  Following a Spurs corner, Alexandra Keown scored with a spectacular drive from 25 yards to put Spurs three up at the break.

Spurs continued in the ascendancy in the second half and added a fourth after a strong run and finish from Lauren Taylor-Marks.  Sophie Petros became Spurs fifth goal-scorer when she struck home a low cross from the Riana Soobadoo.  In the closing stages, a gallant Denham struck a well-taken goal that was a just reward for their efforts throughout the game.

Luton Town Belles  15    Hoddesdon Owls  0    
Bushey Rangers  2    Bedwell Rangers  2    
Enfield Town Ladies  4     Harvesters  2    
Queens Park Rangers  6     Charlton Pinnacle Scholars  0    

The Under 13's went goal crazy on Sunday when they won 16-0 against Hoddesdon Owls in the HGFL. 

Midfielder Hannah Mills lead the way with a five goal haul with further Spurs goals from Leesa Shields 2, Stavroulla Panayiotou 2, Alex Small 2, Natalie Richardson 2, Sophie Petros, Rebecca Hunneyball and an own goal.

Bushey Rangers  -    Luton Town Belles  -    
Denham United  4    Charlton Pinnacle Scholars  1    

On a cold and wind swept day, Spurs were entertained by Bedwell Rangers at Stevenage .

Bedwell were out of the blocks first and quickly moved the ball forward to their striker, who ghosted past the Spurs defence.  Ricole Vyse slipped to her knees in the very muddy box, but regained her footing to foil Bedwell’s attack.  

Robyn Downie went on a very strong run on the right wing moving past two defenders with ease and sent the ball into the box, which was met by Natalie Richardson whose chip looked certain to drop in the goal, but the Bedwell keeper was quick to react and got back to make the save.  Leesa Shields, whose influence on the game seems to grow each week, had the keeper back peddling from her long range shot and saw it drop harmlessly into the keepers arms.  

The Spurs midfield were putting a lot of pressure on the Bedwell defence.  Hannah Mills picked up the ball from her defence and went on a strong run straight through Bedwell’s midfield.  Avoiding a series of tackles, she took the ball to the by-line, but was unable to get in a telling cross.  Robyn again was at the heart of another attack, but was scythed down just outside the box.  Up stepped Leesa, who is fast becoming the free kick specialist and her shot at goal was caught by the wind and taken harmlessly wide of the target.  

To Bedwell’s credit they gave as good as they got; a swift passing move from their midfield saw the ball put through to the very quick forward.  Ricole again got caught in the mud and the Bedwell striker was round her with the goal at her mercy, but out of nowhere Hoshi Cooper-Hutchinson was back to save Spurs blushes and coolly took the ball away from goal followed by the Bedwell player.  Hoshi then played the ball off the striker for a Spurs goal kick.  

For twenty minutes Bedwell held every attack at bay.  Spurs won a throw-in close to the box.  Hannah put a long throw into the area and Robyn flicked the ball on, but Sophie Petros' shot was straight at the keeper.  Another free kick was won on the edge of the box and Leesa’s delivery was good, the keeper could only parry the ball down to the following in Sophie, whose shot found the back of the net.  0-1 to Spurs.  

Bedwell were not here to make up the numbers and some very feisty tackles were made in midfield and Spurs' very impressive Rebecca Hunneyball was also in the thick of it, stopping Bedwell from making any breaks through the centre.  With the half coming to a close a corner was won and Leesa’s delivery was again superb, with Alex Small winning a flick on, the ball dropped to Ky Hunte, whose shot rifled into the Bedwell net.  0-2 Spurs.

In the second half, Spurs had wind behind them and the slight downward slope, but could not take full advantage of this and both teams tried to break down each others defence, but ended up in a too and fro battle in midfield with some very strong tackling from both sides.  It was midway through the half and Bedwell again gave away a free kick close to their own penalty box.  Up stepped Leesa, whose shot found the top right corner of the goal.  0-3 Spurs.  

Now with their tails up, Spurs put more pressure on the Bedwell goal.  Hannah saw a long range shot go high over the bar.  A through ball from Riana Soobadoo hit a defender's hand and the referee played a good advantage and with cool finishing Natalie put the ball away for 0-4 to Spurs. 

With the last kick of the game Rebecca’s powerful shot was hit straight at the keeper, which was a shame as she had deserved a goal for her tireless work at the heart of the midfield.  Among Glenn’s post match comments - “A very solid performance by the team” and he gave player of the match to the hard working Rebecca Hunneyball.

Mark Richardson

Match postponed.

Harvesters  5    Denham United  1       
Luton Town Belles  3    Bedwell Rangers  0    

Match postponed.

League Cup quarter finals 
Harvesters  4    Enfield Town Ladies  3     
Luton Town Belles  7    Princes Park  0     

The Under 13's maintained their title challenge with a hard fought 2-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers in the HGFL on Sunday.

QPR started off the brighter of the two sides and put pressure on the Spurs back four but Spurs soon got into their stride when Leesa Shields hit home a powerful 25 yard free kick after Robyn Downie had been brought down.

Spurs went 2-0 after 50 minutes when a through-ball from Robyn found Alex Small who fired home from 12 yards.

QPR came back at Spurs again and there was several good saves from Ricole Vyse and goal lines clearances. However, Spurs held strong and now look forward to the London Youth FA Cup final next week.

Glenn Weaver

Harvesters  3    Luton Town Belles  1    
Hoddesdon Owls  0    Bedwell Rangers  11    
Denham United  4    Bushey Rangers  0    

In a game that edged both ways throughout its duration, Tottenham Hotspur Under-13s came out on top to secure the first piece of silverware for the Ladies club this season.

The sides were quite well matched and although Tottenham had the majority of possession, they had to fight for the right to take the London FA Youth Cup.

From the first minute, when Leesa Shields fired in a free-kick from 25 yards out, the Orient goal was under threat.  On six minutes, Ky Hunte hit a shot on goal that was blocked and flew high into the air in the area, where it was cleared.  It only went as far as Hannah Mills, who hit an unstoppable drive from the edge of the area to beat the keeper and put Tottenham ahead.

A Shields corner in the eighth minute caused a scramble in the penalty area and Robyn Downie got a foot to it, but could only direct her effort wide.  Then Riana Soobadoo took a corner in the area and hit a shot that the keeper saved.  The play was all towards the Orient goal and Ky hit a 25 yard effort wide and on the quarter hour, Natalie Richardson flicked the ball past Downie and into the path of Riana, but the shot was dragged across the face of goal.  Yet another corner was played to Rebecca Hunneyball, who hit a shot on goal, but the block by a defender took the sting off it and the keeper held it safely.  The O's goalie was in action again as she was called upon to grab Robyn's overhead kick.

With 25 minutes on the clock, Orient mounted their first attack and the ball was played into the area, but took a deflection that threw the Tottenham defence and it fell kindly for a forward to sweep the ball into the net to equalise.

Two minutes later and Spurs had two more chances to restore the lead.  Leesa hit a corner to Robyn at the far post and her volley was just wide of the mark, then from the goal-kick, Riana took the ball and shot across the keeper, but also wide of the goal.  Hannah Mills was having a powerful game in midfield and broke through a couple of tackles after winning the ball to hit a 25 yard shot narrowly outside the left hand post.

A flag from the referee's assistant brought play back from the Leyton Orient area to the edge of the Spurs penalty box, as he had spotted that Ricole Vyse had carried the ball beyond the limit of the area.  The free-kick was blocked, but when the ball came back into the penalty area, a scramble ensued and the ball ended up in the back of the Tottenham net to put Orient 2-1 up on the stroke of half-time.

The team-talk at the interval must have done the trick, as the Tottenham girls dominated the second half, with Ricole only having a couple of long through balls to pick up.

Nine minutes into the second half, Robyn almost surprised the Orient keeper, with a hooked shot that flew very close to the angle of crossbar and post, while a free kick played in by Leesa was dropped by the keeper and Sophie almost converted it at the far post under pressure from a defender.

Robyn Downie was providing the Orient defence with a problem in how to handle her and when she was bundled down in the box, appeals for a penalty were waved away, but Leesa Shields kept her concentration and when the ball came out to her, 25 yards from goal, she hit a precise, high shot that looped over the keeper and into the net to get Spurs back on level terms with fifteen minutes of the second half elapsed.

Five minutes later Spurs might have been ahead when Hannah Mills repeated her shot from the first half and hit the back of the net, but a lineman's flag once more brought the Spurs girls down from the clouds, as he had spotted an offence in the area.  With half an hour gone in the second half, Sophie Petros headed onto Robyn and her shot from the edge of the area was saved low down by the keeper.

In Tottenham's next attack, a free-kick was awarded to Tottenham 30 yards out and dead-ball expert Leesa Shields stepped up to crack the ball in on goal.  With players in front of the keeper, she was not able to follow the path of the ball and it went in off her arm to give Spurs the lead again.

With nine minutes to go, Orient made some changes to try and force the game into extra time, but Spurs took the play towards the Leyton goal and when Riana pulled the ball back to Sophie at the near post, her shot passed across the face of the goal.

With time running out, Spurs kept the ball away from the danger areas and played out time to celebrate a well-deserved win.  Orient were worthy opponents and scored with both the shots they had on goal, but on the day Tottenham proved just too strong and with Players of the Match Hannah Mills and Leesa Shields, they joyously lifted the London FA Youth Cup.

Charlton Pinnacle Scholars  3    Bushey Rangers  0    

A slightly ring rusty performance saw the Under 13's eventually notch up an 8-1 HGFL Cup Quarter Final over Charlton Pinnacles on Sunday. 

Some of Spurs early play was scrappy and it took a Leesa Shields free-kick to put Spurs ahead after 15 minutes.  

Just before the break, captain Ryah Vyse put Spurs two-nil ahead from the penalty spot after the hard working Robyn Downie had been fouled. 

In the second half, the Spurs passing game returned and they took control with a further six goals coming from Hoshi Cooper-Hutchinson, Riana Soobadoo, Sophie Petros and Robyn Downie (2). 

Spurs now face Harvesters in next week's semi-final.

Harvesters  2    Queens Park Rangers  0     
Luton Town Belles  5    Enfield Town Ladies  4     
Bedwell Rangers  0    Denham United  2