Tottenham Hotspur Ladies FC -

Under-13 Blues match reports 2005-06

It was a great performance from the Spurs team and game they deserved not to loose, Both teams came out hard, Megan Barsby made a great save in the first few seconds of the match, with the ball staying in Spurs last third and Bushey pushing hard on goal, Tayla Goodman made a good clearance followed by a crunching tackle from Olivia Rodney who then cleared the ball up over half way.

It was good end to end action, and after more play in the Spurs half Kirsty Cunoosamy made a good clearance and the ball came out to Rosie Daly who had a shot on goal and it went just wide.  After more end to end play Rosie made a good run down the right with ball at feet and looking up, she chipped defender and keeper to score.  From the restart Bushey took the ball straight into the Spurs box and with Tayla reading the ball well made a good run across the Bushey striker to block her from shooting.  From that the ball went straight down the Bushey end with some great interlink passing from Lotty Lovejoy-Crump, Ruby Marlow and Alex Robinson who intern crossed to Kirsty who shot just wide.

From the goal kick, Bushey putting pressure on Spurs took a chance and opened the Spurs defence to score, 1-1, with scores level Spurs switched off for the last few minutes of the half and Bushey scored again.

With the start of the second half, it showed that it was going to be as fast and furious as the first with shots hitting posts and end to end chances, but Ruby soon broke through from the right, cut in and scored Spurs second to make it 2-2.  With the girls putting in one of the best performances of the season so far, they were getting tired and with a pacy attack Bushey broke through and scored their third to make the final score 3-2.

Rosie was named player of the match for her effort and well taken goal.

Manager John Goodman said, "The girls done great.  I could not have asked for any more commitment than they showed and even though we lost, we showed great steel and determination.  With similar performances, we will push teams hard and make a fight of every game WELL DONE !!!"

JOHN GOODMAN

Bushey Rangers  -     
Princes Park  -      
Hatfield Youth   -     
Garston Ladies  -     
Hemel Hempstead  -     
Northwood  - 

Postponed - frozen pitch.

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The game started well, looking like it was going to be another close one.  

Spurs started off with a near miss from Kirsty Cunoosamy within the first few minutes and on the break Bushey scored.  After the restart, Erin McGuire made a good defensive clearance up to Kirsty who made a good pass to Becky Shephard to score.  Shortly after, Melika Edwards made a lovely block but Bushey scored again.  Alex Robinson made a great move that earned Spurs a corner, but nothing came from it and Bushey broke and scored again just before half time.

Spurs heads dropped in the second half and although there were some good efforts on goal from Becky, Rosie Daly, Tayla Goodman, Kirsty and Ruby Marlow, no one could find the back of the net.  Bushey then completed the rout with another six goals.  With all this going on Alex played the whole game at full pace, defending, running with ball and passing well and was named player of the match.

The managers considered that the lack of communication and shape let us down, but this is one of many things that we need to work on over the season.

E. COLLETT

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Kirsty Cunoosamy gave Spurs a great start when she scored within the first three minutes of the game and it looked like Spurs were going to do well.  There was some great play all round, as Grace Gilbey chased down a Long Lane player to cut off a cross, Megan Barsby then had to make a great save, one of many throughout the game, but then after 20 minutes Long Lane scored.  Spurs were still playing well but Long Lane scored again on the stroke of half time against the run of play.

The second half started with Spurs on the back foot and Long Lane got their third goal, but Tottenham picked up the pace and with some constant pressure and a lovely run and pass from Erin McGuire, Becky Shephard scored the second Spurs goal from long range.

The girls battled well for a long period, but towards the end of the game they were all tired with the heavy pitch taking it's toll and with limited substitutes available due to injuries, Long Lane broke to score their fourth. 

Kirsty had a great game and was awarded player of the match.

The managers thought that the girls character showed throughout the team and we started strong and defended well.  This was one of our best performances and all that let us down was lack of fitness, which will come with time.  With a full strength squad we could have challenged Long Lane to the end.

E. COLLETT

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Spurs Under-13 Blues fell to a heavy defeat to free-scoring Queens Park Rangers from the First Division in this League Cup group game.

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Match postponed - Northwood involved in County Cup.

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Appalling conditions helped neither side in this League game, which saw Spurs triumph with the only goal of the game.

It came in the first half when a Ruby Marlow shot was saved by the Hemel keeper and Becky Shephard was alive to the rebound to stick it away for her fourteenth League goal of the season.  The new central defensive pairing of Rosie Daly and Melika Edwards dealt with the attacks Hemel made and the midfield worked hard to track back when the ball was in the possession of the opposition. 

Hemel went close towards the end of the first half and again halfway through the second, but stand-in keeper Grace Gilbey had a quiet game in goal.  Both Ruby, with a low shot across goal and Erin McGuire, whose shot was blocked, went close to adding to the score, but a solid team performance earned all the players the "Player of the Match" award, as they all played their part in the win.

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It was a very determined side that beat Hatfield Town Youth in this HGFL fixture, getting straight into the game with Kirsty Cunoosamy scoring within the first minute. 

Five minutes later Ruby Marlow scored Spurs' second goal of the match, then, soon after, Becky Shephard, Kirsty and Yasmin Hassan all had near misses.  The back four did a great job keeping out the Hatfield girls, providing Megan Barsby with her quietest game of the season so far.

The second half started just as well as the first, when Ruby had a shot at goal with her right foot that came back at her off the post and she slotted the rebound away with her left foot for the third goal of the game.

In the 50th minute Hatfield had a couple of shots on goal that Megan saved well, but the ball was soon back in the Hatfield half with Becky scoring in the 58th minute and then notching another in the 64th.  Just a minute later Bansari Haria latched onto a thunderbolt ball from Yasmin to toe the ball into the roof of the net and score her first goal in a Spurs shirt.  It was Bansari's best game of the season so far and she was awarded player of the match.

Manager John Goodman commented, "the girls gave it all from the off and showed what they can do when fully focused, with total commitment we can now hopefully push on."

JOHN GOODMAN

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Spurs faced runaway league leaders Princes Park on a chilly afternoon at Fred Knights.

In the first minute of the game, Becky Shephard was brought down by the Princes Park goal keeper and Spurs were awarded a penalty, from which she got up to score the first goal of the game for Spurs. 

Tottenham had a lot of possession the the first half, with Alex Robinson, Lotty Lovejoy-Crump, Melika Edwards and Ruby Marlow all helping to keep the ball at the Princes Park end.  Stephanie Aves came on for Erin McGuire and fought off a Princes Park player well, before being robbed as she went forward. Bansari Haria came on for Kirsty Cunoosamy and also had a good game, but in the thirtieth minute Princes Park got the ball in the back of the Spurs net for the equalising goal.       

The second half started with the visitors scoring straight away and five minutes later getting their third.  For a few minutes it looked like Spurs heads had gone down, but they soon started to fight back and in the forty-third minute Kirsty scored their second goal, but Princes Park scored again to regain their two goal lead and two minutes later got their fifth, but this seemed to make Spurs more determined to fight back.

With a lovely pass from Tayla Goodman up the field through to Yasmin Hassan, they got a goal back as she hit a great shot straight into the back of the net to make it 3-5.  The ball stayed up the Princes Park end and three minutes later Becky scored her second goal to make it four for Spurs.

The play switched to the Spurs end, but some good defending stopped any threat and with some good passing the team moved towards the visitors goal, where Erin scored the equaliser.

In a thrilling finale, a Princes Park attack saw the Spurs players determined to keep the ball out of the net for the last few minutes of the game and when the final whistle went on the game, a score of five all was a great result for Spurs, who showed their willingness to battle back into the match.  Yasmin scored her first goal in her third game for Spurs and was made player of the match. .

Manager John Goodman was very pleased with the team and said, "the girls gave their best performance of the season so far and with great determination they did all their talking with the ball."

ETHEL COLLETT

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