Tottenham Hotspur Ladies FC -

Under-13 Blues  match reports 2005-06

The U13 Blues played their first game as a team and they seemed confident and gelled together well, winning 10-0 although Hatfield played a good game.

The back four of Tayla Goodman, Lotty Lovejoy-Crump, Olivia Rodney and Grace Gilbey all made some good tackles and clearances and with the goal keeper Megan also making some good saves, they kept the Hatfield Youth team at bay.

The midfield of Rosie Daly, Erin McGuire, Alex Robinson and Ruby Marlow and forwards Kirsty Cunoosamy and Becky Shephard played really well making good runs and passes, shooting at goal every chance they had.  The first goal came from Becky and was followed quickly by her second.

The third came from Rosie and Kirsty got the fourth, then Ruby’s ran with the ball up the pitch, then cut inside through some Hatfield players to lob the ball in for goal number five.

Bansari Haria then came on for Tayla, who had an injury and Erin and Alex came off for Stephanie Aves and Melika Edwards to replace them and they played well too.

The second half started well and goal number six came from a good shot from outside the area by Rosie, that went straight into the roof of the goal.  Goals seven and eight both came from Ruby and the scoring was completed with Rosie scoring the ninth and Becky number 10.

So the team's first game together brought hat tricks from Becky, Ruby and Rosie, with Ruby being made player of the match.  Manager John Goodman and coach Dave Shephard agreed that this was a great performance and something to build on for the start of the season.

                                                                                                               E.Collett

The Under 13 Blues played their first league game of the season and although the girls all put in a good effort, they lost an end-to-end game 3-5. 

Praise has to go to Player of the match Megan Barsby  who made many great saves from a good Bushey side despite suffering from a broken finger. 

Spurs' goals came from striker Becky Shephard and one from Ruby Marlow which showed they are adapting to the game well and the girls can all be proud of playing a good game, despite being under-strength due to a school trip robbing them of two of the squad.     

Manager John Goodman said, "The girls gave a good account of themselves and should be proud, as it was a hard game and we learnt a few things that we can improve on in training.   We all hope that Megan gets well soon and that her finger is not too painful."

E. Collett

Hemel Hempstead  8     Garston Ladies  1      
Princes Park  4     Northwood  0      

For our first away fixture,  Grace Gilbey started in goal for Megan, who played in defence because of her broken finger.  Although Garston got off to a good start with a very early goal (within 30 seconds of the start), the defence and goalkeeper made a good job of stopping any more goals going in.

The second half started well with Becky Shephard taking a shot on goal that was pushed out by the keeper only to be picked up by Kirsty Cunoosamy who put it straight in the back of the net.

It was Becky Shephard who gave Spurs the lead, when she made a run down the left and struck a  low shot across the keeper to hit the net.  Then Rosie Daly was running in on goal when she was pulled back by a Garston player in the penalty box to give Spurs a penalty.  Becky converted the spot kick for her second goal.

The ball went down towards the Spurs goal, but was headed away by Tayla Goodman to be picked up by Melika Edwards, who passed to Becky and she ran up the pitch to score her third and complete her hat trick.

A long kick from Olivia Rodney was picked up by Rosie, who ran the ball into the Garston box and seeing Erin McGuire in a better position, unselfishly passed the ball to Erin who scored the fifth goal.

Becky was made a well deserved  player of the match.

Manager John Goodman said "After a slow start in the first half and going in 1-0 down at half time, the girls came out in the second half with great spirit and kept their heads up.  They showed great character to come back with five goals and they can be very proud of there second half performance."

E. Collett 

Northwood  4      Hemel Hempstead  1     
Bushey Rangers  6      Hatfield Youth  0     

With two goals from Becky Shephard and another from Rosie Daly, Spurs Ladies U13 Blues moved to another win in the HGFL.

Spurs started slowly and had to wit until the eighth minute before Becky drove a shot just wide and two more minutes before she gave Tottenham the lead.  Having been put through the middle, Becky raced away and struck a low shot past the keeper for 1-0.

Looking very sharp, Becky took a 16th minute pass in the centre circle, turned away from her marker and ran half the length of the pitch but put her shot across the goal and just wide again.  Rosie showed she was on good form too and only a brave dive on the bal stopped her reaching Becky's 33rd minute free-kick.

A minute into the second half, Ruby Marlow fed a ball through to Kirsty Cunoosamy, who hit a low effort that the keeper dived to save.  It was Kirsty who gave Hatfield another nervous moment eight minutes later, when her shot across goal was only inches away from Alexandra Robinson's outstretched leg.

The Spurs defence were mopping up the Hatfield attacks and Megan Barsby had to race from her goal a couple of times to clear as through balls got beyond the back four.  Then out of the blue, Spurs went 2-0 ahead.  From out on the left, Rosie struck a shot on goal and the ball beat the keeper's dive to double the Tottenham lead.

Spurs were starting to pass the ball better now and Alexandra put a nice pass into Becky on the left hand side of the box and her lob drifted just outside the post, but with 27 minutes of the second half gone, Becky made it safe for Spurs, when she cracked a rising shot into the net.

A hat-trick was on Becky's mind and a curling effort with three minutes left just finished a foot wide and Lotty Lovejoy-Crump's last minute shot in the box was well saved by the Hatfield keeper, who played very well, as did the whole side who showed much improvement from the pre-season friendly.

Hemel Hempstead  0     Princes Park  4     
Northwood  -      Garston Ladies  -      

The Tottenham side started out well and looked like they had the measure of the home team.  However, when Princes Park went one up against the run of play, it needed Rosie Daly's effort to get one back, only for Princes Park to score again soon after.  Becky Shephard then scored to make it 2-2, but again Park went back into the lead just before half time.

This week the half time team talk didn’t seem to to do the trick and Spurs came out for the second half not looking like the team we know.  Soon after the restart, Princes Park scored again and went on to add another to beat Spurs 5-2.  Praise has to go to Melika Edwards though who did everything that was asked of her and was made player of the match.

Manager John Goodman said, "With the advantage of an extra player, we could have done better, but with an early kick off (10:00am) away from home it looked like we left our football legs in bed !  On the positive side the girls will try to improve in the next game and should keep their heads up."

E. COLLETT

Northwood  1      Hatfield Youth  0     
Garston Ladies  1      Bushey Rangers  14     

Spurs came out determined not to make the same mistakes as in last week's defeat at Princes Park.

There was good passing and tackling among the girls and after six minutes they achieved the breakthrough when Kirsty Cunoosamy scored.  Not long after Becky Shephard scored after taking the ball from a throw in and the Spurs striker then followed up with her second of the game to make it 3-0.  There was good end to end play with captain Megan Barsby making some important saves before Kirsty scored her second and Spurs fourth goal before half time.

The second half started with Northwood stepping up their game, keeping the Spurs defenders on their toes.

Becky then scored her hat trick goal to make it 5-0, but not long after Northwood scored from a free kick and within a few minutes scored again to make it 5-2.  This made it a tense last ten minutes, but Bansari Haria had a break down the right and hit a low shot on goal which was just going wide.  However, Kirsty was alert and followed in well to take a shot from a narrow angle and slide the ball home for her hat trick and Spurs sixth goal.

Olivia Rodney had a great game and fought hard and was made player of the match.

Manager John Goodman said, "The girls came back from a heavy defeat last week and showed great spirit and determination, getting back to playing like a team.  Well done girls !"

E. COLLETT

Hatfield Youth  1     Princes Park  11      
Bushey Rangers  2     Hemel Hempstead  3     

Bye - New Town Tigers withdrew from the competition.

Marathon Junior B  -     Crayford Arrows  -     
Flamingoes  -     Tottenham Hotspur Whites  -     
Junior Reds  -      Long Lane Lions  -       

Spurs came out playing well, but Megan had to make a good save in the opening minutes, shortly after Becky Shephard made a good run through the middle to lay the ball off for Kirsty Cunoosamy whose shot narrowly missed.  After fifteen minutes, the deadlock was broken when Hemel scored, but within five minutes Becky scored to make it 1-1.  Shortly before half time Hemel nearly scored again, but Erin McGuire made a great clearance to stop any chance of Hemel Hempstead scoring.

At the beginning of the second half Grace crossed a great ball into Kirsty who ran into the area and scored Spurs' second.  Minutes later, Hemel scored their second for 2-2, the game was end to end and looked like it would be full of goals, soon after Hemel's second goal equalised, Spurs broke through again with with a pass from Rosie Daly to Becky, who converted the opportunity.  Again Hemel did not give up and put away their third goal for 3-3.  The game was evenly matched and as the game entered the dying minutes, Hemel were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area.  Confusion in the wall let the free kick pass straight into the back of the net and the game finished 4-3 to Hemel.

Erin McGuire was awarded the Spurs player of the match.

Manager John Goodman said, "not taking our chances to put the game beyond Hemel was our undoing, but we can take heart that we did not give up and showed character."

COURTENEY GOODMAN

Princes Park  13      Garston Ladies  0     
Northwood  0     Bushey Rangers  4     

Bushey Rangers  4     Princes Park  6      
Hatfield Youth   -     Garston Ladies  -     
Hemel Hempstead  1     Northwood  0