A chilly Sunday mid morning saw Spurs ladies U13 Whites welcome Little Thurrock Dynamo's to Freddie Knights.

Thurrock were top of the league and with the Whites having had an indifferent start to the season, nerves were apparent.  The sun soon shone down on Spurs, when newly appointed captain Niamh Carty smashed in an unstoppable shot from angle on the edge of the box.  Spurs continued to enjoy possession in well contested, physical game in which Emily Stacey stood out.

The defence of Joely, Georgia, Lois and Carlota were all good on the ball today. The midfield of Klea, Tayla, Morgan, Heidi and Sophie were tenacious and never gave up.  Special thanks to Heidi and Sophie's goalkeeping stints !

The second goal came for Spurs after another good run and shot from Klea that deflected in off of a Thurrock player. Play continued Spurs' way and then Niamh smashed in another unstoppable shot from the opposite angle to her first goal with her left foot to make it 3-1 final score to Spurs.

Glen Callegari
 

THLFC  : -
Sophie Aldridge/Heidi Yelkin (GK), Joely Harris-Tharp, Georgia Callegari, Lois Pennington, Carlota Franques, Klea Sadrija, Morgan Leversuch, Tayla Jackson, Niamh Carty, Emily Stacey

A coldish morning saw Spurs travel to Thurrock to play Little Thurrock Dynamos.  A very pleasant, but tough encounter is always on the cards with a team that we get on very well with and enjoy welcoming or visiting.

The game started with Dynamo's absorbing all Spurs' attacks, but as ever Spurs refused to get frustrated and kept plugging away.  This soon paid off when Klea tapped home after a good Spurs build up.

A quick Dynamo's build up of play resulted in them going through on goal, but a supreme chase back and tackle from Georgia Callegari snuffed this attack out.  Another positive passage of Spurs play saw Heidi slot home coolly for a 2-0 lead.

Some decent Dynamo's play resulted in our opponents breaking out and smashing in an unstoppable shot. 

Spurs continued to press and were rewarded when Heidi sealed the game with a tap in after a brilliant move.

A great all round performance from Spurs, with man of the match being won by Tayla, closely followed by Klea and the returning Katy who all put in brilliant midfield performances.

Well done to all of the girls.

Spurs welcomed Leigh Ramblers to Freddie Knights for our second Spring Plate game.  The weather had taken a turn for the worst with the rain falling heavily.

The game got off to a decent start with Spurs pressing well, and midway through the first half, Heidi Yelkin earned a penalty which she swiftly converted.

The usual hard graft from Tayla Jackson, Joely Harris-Tharp, Morgan Leversuch, Klea Sadrija and Heidi was evident. Niamh Cartywas chasing well up front, and Lois Pennington, Georgia Callegari and Carlota Franques (cross country run hero) were tight at the back.  Sophie Aldridge was showing great results from her recent goalkeeping training with a couple of good charge downs and some excellent kicking. 

We were unlucky to concede an equaliser, but Leigh demonstrated, as we have had done to us before, that you should never give up on an apparently lost ball.

We soon regained the lead when Klea was put through and made no mistake in firing us 2-1 ahead.

Half time came and went and we were like the walking wounded.  Joely, Tayla, Carlota, Lois and Niamh all carrying hefty knocks and balls to the face, but the great thing was that they never gave up.  Heidi, Klea and Georgia battled everything, Sophie stayed alert and Morgan played deft touch after deft touch in the middle.

With the rain pouring heavily and wind chill factor causing the girls to freeze (as well as parents, manager and helpers) we were delighted when Klea again found herself clear to fire an unstoppable shot to put us 3-1 up, and it was nearly 4-1 when Joely for the second week on the trot found herself clear on goal, shot magnificently, but came up against a great save from the Leigh keeper.

The game finished 3-1 to Spurs and the girls came off injured, wet, cold but heroes, as we finished with only 7 on the pitch. Hopefully all will be fully fit for a tough test ahead next week.

Credit to Leigh Ramblers who also endured the same conditions.

A beautiful Spring like morning saw us travel to Romford for a game against Tiger Black Socks who we had played against in our last league.  We knew we were in for a very tough morning, as we were again down to the bare nine players, and we had already had some mammoth games against Tigers already.

The game started at frenetic pace, with end to end stuff.  Spurs were off to a flyer when a very alert Heidi Yelkin intercepted a Tigers goal kick and squared to Niamh Carty, who ruthlessly fired home. 1-0 to Spurs.

The re-start saw the ball won by Morgan Leversuch in our box, and she cleverly played in Heidi, who again being very alert, looked up and squared to Klea Sadrija from a left wing position. Klea then slotted the ball beautifully into the left hand corner of the Tigers goal. 2-0 Spurs. Some scrappy play ensued, and Lois Pennington pulled off a couple of brilliant tackles to keep Tigers at bay, and along with Sophie Aldridge commanding the area and closing down well, Spurs were well on top, but by half time, two defensive lapses found Spurs pegged back to 2-2.
 

After an inspiring team talk from the writer of this report at half time, the girls went out fired up and within a minute of the re-start, some exceptional play on the left side of the pitch from Heidi and Klea saw Niamh put through to again ruthlessly smash Spurs into a 3-2 lead.

We again won possession via the industrious Tayla Jackson from the re-start, who found Joely Harris-Tharp in space. Joely turned and passed to Georgia Callegari who went on a mazy run, shot, the keeper saved, but luckily for us Niamh was poaching and tapped in. 4-2 and we were in heaven.

The re-start saw Spurs now in total control, almost instantly taking the ball off of Tigers thanks to a Morgan interception. Morgan found Georgia with a simple pass, and some wonderful left side play involving Heidi and Niamh saw Niamh go on to nick a fourth goal for herself and a fifth for Spurs. 3 goals in 10 minutes.

Tigers pegged Spurs back after this and Lois had to go off injured after one of Tigers attacks, due to her commitment in throwing herself in the way of everything, and showing some supreme defensive covering.  In true grit style, she soon came back on.

While we were down to eight players, the girls showed excellent team spirit in covering each others positions.  Sophie was in blistering form, saving our bacon on more than one occasion.  Spurs broke out after a period of pressure but again two defensive lapses saw Tigers claim two goals back. 

With the score at 5-4 in Spurs' favour, we were nervous, and not helped when a Tigers shot that Sophie saved caused an injury to Sophie as it trapped her hand against the post.  Sophie had to come out of goal with a seriously swollen hand, but without question, Tayla volunteered to take over and steadied everyone's nerves with a fine display.  Sophie almost scored too.

The game finished 5-4 to Spurs and all players, parents, helpers and writer of this report were extremely proud. Player of the match could have been anyone today, so the Haribo's went to all of the girls.  Well done girls.

Thanks also to the usual trusted help and advice of Craig Pennington and the parents who spurred us on today.

We made the long (and very early) journey to Clacton in great spirits, with everyone really excited about the game ahead.  We arrived to find the most beautiful playing surface that we had come across this season.

The game started brilliantly for Spurs, with the ball being passed around the surface and decent runs being made by Spurs.  A few efforts on goal found their keeper in great form.  Clacton had some good efforts too, but quality defending from keeper Sophie Aldridge, and defenders Lois Pennington, Katy Phillips and Joely Harris-Tharp saw them quickly snuffed out.
 

Half time came and went, and Spurs started off in the same vein, with Klea Sadrija controlling the game, and Georgia , Morgan, Tayla Jackson, Heidi Yelkin and Niamh Carty running off of her.  A corner from Tayla saw a melee in the box, Katy picked up the ball, and everyone's hearts were in their mouths as it sneaked in via the post.  1-0 ... game on.

Clacton really pinned Spurs back after this and Sophie had to be on top form to keep them at bay.  However, a quick throw eluded our defence and Clacton nipped in to draw level.  This rallied Spurs and the pace was picked up again. Late on in the second half, Morgan took a quick throw which Katy flicked on and found Klea waiting in the wings to drill home.

With the score at 2-1 to Spurs, we were really pegged back again, and held on for dear life for the final whistle to blow. When it did, the writer of this report breathed one almighty sigh of relief along with mums and dads.

Player of the match was Klea, although everyone played to top form today. Well done girls.