Tottenham Hotspur Ladies FC -

Under-13 Whites match reports 2005-06

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Two Andrea Edobor goals secured a win over a valiant Hitchin Town Belles side in this HGFL encounter.

Spurs started brightly and were ahead after just six minutes.  Andrea was released down the left wing and her run took her past the last defender.  A speculative effort with the outside of her left foot struck the angle of crossbar and post before bouncing across goal and in off the other post, leaving the keeper with no chance.

This sparked a period of Spurs pressure during which Lucky Di Biasio came forward to hit a fierce shot from outside the area that rocked the bar and a Chloe Gunn 20 yard effort drew a good save from the keeper.  It was just before the half hour when Andrea doubled the lead with a shot from a central position that went in just under the bar.

Hitchin showed that they were not deterred by the score-line and with half time approaching broke away on their left forcing Nicola Davey to make a save at her near post.

Tottenham continued to pass the ball well in the second half, but without the cutting edge that had found earlier.  Sian Osmond took over goalkeeping duties in the second half and she pushed a Hitchin corner out of harm's way when danger threatened, but she was well protected by her defence of Zoë Jackson, Paige Barnard and Katie Goodland.

With the five man midfield breaking up many of the Hitchin moves, they broke with speed and Leasha Ngotho ran half the length of the pitch to take the ball around the keeper, but was forced too wide to get a shot in.  The only other chance created in the second half came when Chloe Gunn crossed and Lindsey Cockle headed the ball just wide of the near post.

The experimental formation saw Spurs control the game and provides them with tactical options in forthcoming fixtures.

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Spurs U13 travelled west to play the Chelsea academy on Saturday. This was a big test for the girls and they rose to it magnificently with a gutsy performance against a very good team whose technical skills were above any this team had previously encountered before.

The match consisted of three 25-minute 'halves' with Spurs using a combination of 19 players including 3 'borrowed' from the U14s (Ricole and Ryah Vyse and Leesa Shields).

The first phase saw Chelsea start with a high tempo and some tough challenges were exchanged with Stephanie Smith injured early on.  Ricole was confident in goal and unfortunate to concede after she managed to get a hand to a shot, only for the pace of the shot to ensure it was steered into the net.  Five minutes later Chelsea added a second when a forward lost her marker for an easy header.  Spurs had Chelsea on the back foot on a couple of occasions, but some stout defending by the home team ensured that Spurs did not score.

The second phase saw Spurs best spell of the game as they produced some passionate football to counter the technical ability of Chelsea.  Chloe Gunn was the driving force, intercepting and creating and almost scored when her free-kick went over the bar.  Chances were few and far between and forwards Andrea Edobor
and Leash Ngotho had to be patient for chances to arrive with Andrea shooting from distance on a couple of occasions.  Nicola Davey made two notable saves to keep a clean sheet in the second phase and Spurs debutant Vanessa Hassans made an encouraging start to her Spurs career.

The third phase saw Spurs with tired legs and Chelsea took advantage with their greater fitness levels by rattling in five goals in this period.

Many thanks to our hosts and we look forward to playing them again soon.  This was a good yardstick for us to see how far we have come and in true academy style we know the score-line is irrelevant.

Well done to all the girls - a very good performance.

KEVIN FENN

Spurs Ladies advanced to the knockout stages of this competition with a 'grown up' display at Watford, coming a day after their tough friendly game against Chelsea academy U14s. 

In truth Spurs were rarely troubled but with a heavy pitch they had to bide their time and work hard at their game to ensure the victory.

The first half remained goalless and Spurs had to wait until 10 minutes from time to get the breakthrough they deserved.  It came after a couple of opportunities were put narrowly wide by Andrea Edobor and Rhiannon Kelly and the goalie saving well from Leasha Ngotho.  It was Rhiannon who became the provider of the first goal, skipping past two defenders before squaring to Lindsey Cockle who new exactly where to park it.

The second goal for Spurs was scored in the last minute when Chloe Gunn took advantage of some tired defending and rounded two players before unleashing a drive past the keeper.

A good weekend for this squad.

KEVIN FENN

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The league leaders QPR were the visitors today and Spurs came away with a narrow win in a game that was very evenly contested.

The first half belonged to Spurs as they dictated the play and put away two chances to leave them two-nil up at half time.  The first was from a long ball from Jodie Fenn played from inside the Spurs half and into the path of Leasha Ngotho who knocked the ball forward before releasing a ferocious shot that the goalkeeper could only palm into the net.

The introduction of Lindsey Cockle brought another dimension to Spurs play and she was able to tease the defence with her trickery before being felled in the area for a penalty.  Lindsey then kept her nerve to beat the keeper from the spot as she placed the ball beyond the keeper.

After the break, QPR stepped up a gear as Spurs defended deep with goalkeeper Nicola Davey being called into action making numerous saves.  However, QPR did break through the defence to put them back in the game and Spurs had to dig in and ride the storm.

QPR got another break when a ball from wide struck the arm of Andrea Edobor and the visitors were awarded a penalty, but the luck was with Spurs as the kick was blasted over the bar.

That incident woke Spurs up and they started creating again with Andrea and Rhiannon Kelly causing problems and Chloe Gunn, Laila El Haddad and Stephanie Smith driving the midfield.  The defence marshalled by Zoë Jackson and Paige Barnard played magnificently with Tessa Osborne, Jodie Fenn and Katie Goodland playing their part in stalling the attacks whilst Lucky di Biasio anchored the midfield.

Our visitors played their part in a very exiting match and deserve credit.

KEVIN FENN

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Tottenham looked to build on their great win against Queens Park Rangers when they played their next league game away to Hitchin.

It was Spurs who started the brighter of the two teams with Jodie Fenn fizzing a shot just wide of the post in the opening minute.  The next fifteen minutes proved to be somewhat of a midfield battle with both teams failing to find much space on the narrow pitch, but it was Hitchin who opened the scoring against the run of play with the ball coming to an unmarked Hitchin striker to finish in the seventeenth minute. 

Tottenham responded brightly to going a goal behind with a good spell of pressure.  Andrea Ebodor cracked a shot from well outside the area only to see the ball come back off the post, before an inevitable Spurs equaliser finally came on the twenty-second minute with Chloe Gunn hitting a shot from the edge of the area and with a little help from the deflection off of the Hitchin defender, she saw her shot wrong foot the keeper.  Spurs were wrong if they thought they had time to even celebrate the goal, because within two minutes they found themselves a goal behind again after some good work from a Hitchin striker and some sloppy Spurs defending.

The next seven minutes saw Spurs’ most dominant period of the game.  Rhiannon Kelly made one of her trademark runs with the ball into the opponents’ area and slotted the ball past the keeper to equalise for Spurs again.  Chloe Gunn then took advantage of Hitchin’s inability to clear a corner as she scrambled the ball over the goal line to make it 3-2 to Spurs and just before half time, substitute Vanessa Hassans met a perfect Andrea Ebodor corner to put Spurs 4-2 ahead.

Spurs could be accused of being complacent going into the second half and certainly took their foot off the pedal. They were punished seven minutes into the second half as Hitchin broke down the right hand side to pull a goal back.  A somewhat stunned Spurs team saw their lead thrown away five minutes later when Hitchin, resurgent after the break, equalised.  And, as if it couldn’t have got any worse for the gob-smacked Spurs team, they found themselves 5-4 behind with only ten minutes left to play.

However with only five minutes left on the clock the ball broke free on the edge of the Hitchin penalty area and Stephanie Smith hit a low drive past the despairing Hitchin keeper to rescue a point for Spurs. A game that many thought Spurs would win easily saw them come away with only a point.  A lesson learnt for this young team. 

                                                                                                            DANIEL COCKLE

Cambridge City 3     Watford Ladies  0
Luton Town Belles  5     Harpenden  1

Spurs worked hard to shore up their defence after conceding five goals last weekend and it was particularly pleasing to emerge with a clean sheet at the end of this game.  Our opponents Luton relied on the speed of their forwards and the defensive quartet of Laila El Haddad, Paige Barnard, Zoë Jackson and Lucky Di Biasio had to keep their concentration in dealing with the lively front two.

With Jodie Fenn anchoring the midfield, Chloe Gunn was released to join Stephanie Smith in a more offensive midfield role with Tessa Osborne and Katie Goodland providing the width.

Spurs started slowly and opportunities were few and far between with the home team second to the ball on most occasions. Luton found more space and threaded the ball to their forwards on a few occasions but Zoë Jackson dealt efficiently by intercepting well.  Goalkeeper Sian Osmond was called into action just before the end of the first half saving bravely at the feet of the Luton forward when they looked certain to score and Chloe Gunn had a chance to put Spurs ahead before the break but shot wide of the post whilst attempting to take her opportunity quickly.

Spurs stepped up a gear in the second half with Andrea causing problems on the left and Lindsey Cockle finding more space as the game progressed.  Vanessa Hassans replaced the injured Tessa Osborne and did a good job in containing the threat down the right flank.

Lindsey Cockle found herself with the ball and  the goalkeeper off her line and took the decision to try the lob from distance.  The execution was good but unfortunately the direction took the ball past the wrong side of the post.  However soon afterwards Andrea Edobor showed how much she is improving as a player as she created her own space using her speed and scored with a textbook drive to the bottom left of the goal giving the goalkeeper no chance to save.

KEVIN FENN

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