Tottenham Hotspur Ladies FC -

Under-14  match reports 2005-06

The Under 14's are still in with a shout of gaining a place in the quarter final after a morale raising 8-0 victory over Division 2 side Stevenage Borough Juniors in the HGFL Cup.

Spurs were ahead as early as the fourth minute when a Leesa Shields corner was powerfully headed home by Ryah Vyse.  Beth Hunter-Scott doubled the advantage in the 12th minute with a well-taken strike past the oncoming Stevenage keeper.  Ryah Vyse took the advantage to three goals when she drove a shot through a melee of players just four minutes from the break.

In the second half, Spurs pushed forward again and despite some resolute defending by Stevenage Boro, a five-goal blitz in a 10 minute spell, was just rewards for a polished Spurs performance.  The five goals coming from Sophie Petros, birthday girl Hoshi Cooper-Hutchinson, Shikiera Richards-Lake, Patrizia Leo on her return to Spurs and Joy Dutch.

Stevenage Boro should be commended for their battling spirit right to the end.  A game play in good spirit and excellently refereed.

GLENN WEAVER

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The Under 14's put in an excellent performance to record a 10-0 victory against Hatfield Youth in the HGF League Cup after losing 8-2 to the same side a matter of a few weeks ago in the league.

New signing Toni Gillman was the star of the show scoring five times after coming on as a sub.  She was ably supported with further goals from Sophie Petros (2), Leesa Shields, Patrizia Leo and captain Ryah Vyse.

The Spurs defence looked a solid unit, with the centre half pairing of Hoshi Cooper-Hutchinson and Shikiera Lake-Richards in control throughout.

The result leaves Spurs needing a victory at high-flying Harvesters to claim a spot in the last eight of the League Cup.

GLENN WEAVER

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The Under 14's put a gallant performance before slipping to a 1-0 in the HGF League Cup against Harvesters on Sunday.

In the first half, Spurs started brightly and forced several good saves from the Harvesters goalkeeper.  In the later stages of the half, Harvesters came more into the game but were well shackled by the Spurs central defensive pairing of Shikiera Lake-Richards and Hoshi Cooper-Hutchinson.

Spurs started strongly in the second half and forced a series of corners, but they were unable to capitalise on these. On 55 minutes, Harvesters broke quickly and scored the only goal of the game. 

Despite Spurs battling right to the end, they were unable to get back on terms. 

They now enter into the plate competition.

GLENN WEAVER

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The Under-14s put on their best performance of the season to defeat Watford Ladies FC 3-1 on Sunday in the HGFL.

Spurs fell behind in the fifth minute when Watford caught the Spurs defence leaden-footed.  However, Spurs battled back into the game and after 22 minutes were level when Toni Gillman split the Watford defence and finished coolly.

In the second half, Spurs up the tempo and took the game to Watford. After 55 minutes Spurs took the lead when an in-swinging Leesa Shields corner went directly into the goal.  In the closing minutes of the game, another Shields corner was poked home by the alert Sophie Petros from six yards.

The confident win helps Spurs move away from the relegation zone.

GLENN WEAVER

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A good performance by the Spurs ten, but it was disappointing to have seven players missing from the squad for this match.

GLENN WEAVER

Enfield Town Ladies  9     Denham United  1    
QPR  1     Luton Town Belles  2    
Barking Ladies  3     Bedwell Rangers  1    
Hatfield Town  0     Watford Ladies  7    

Spurs left it late to secure all three points in their HGFL fixture against Bedwell Rangers with a hard earned 3-1 victory.

The first half saw very few chances for both sides as the play centred around the midfield area for long periods.

Spurs started brighter in the second half and it was Patrizia Leo who open the scoring rifling home a cross field pass after 50 minutes.  Bedwell then came back into the match and were awarded a penalty within 10 minutes which they duly scored from.

With just five minutes to go, a through ball saw Alex Small race onto it from 40 yards out to sweep the ball past the Bedwell keeper.  In time added on, Rebecca Hunneyball scored with a strong low shot into the net to wrap up a win in a strong competitive match, played in a good spirit and well refereed.

GLENN WEAVER

Enfield Town Ladies  4     Watford Ladies  3    
Harvesters  2     Denham United  1    
Luton Town Belles  3     Barking Ladies  0    
QPR  6     Hatfield Town  1    

Spurs Under-14s made hard work of this League win over a determined Hatfield Town side.

The girls suffered an early scare when Ricole Vyse parried a shot on goal in the fourth minute, but Joy Dutch was on hand to block the follow-up shot and allay any danger.  From that point Tottenham took the game to Hatfield and two minutes later Beth Scott-Hunter put team-mate Toni Gillman in for a shot that just missed the target.  Spurs had plenty of possession, but failed to reap the benefits, as they lacked incisiveness in their passing.  However, on 17 minutes, Toni received the ball in the area, turned her marker and struck a shot from the left side of the goal and it bounced away off the outside of the post.

Spurs plugged away, keeping the ball at the Hatfield end and with 23 minutes gone, Charlie Newson-Archer lifted a high ball into the area.  Toni was onto it in a flash and lifted it over the goalkeeper, but her effort was headed away from the goal, although the clearance fell to Beth, who shot straight back in to give Tottenham the lead.

Hatfield were keen to hit back and a 24th minute corner was cleared and the subsequent shot back in was well saved by Ricole.  The play switched straight to the other end and Ryah Vyse put Toni through on goal, but her shot went over the bar to leave the score at 1-0 at the interval.

The half-time team-talk must have had some impact because seven minutes into the second half, Spurs pressed forward to win a corner.  Leesa Shields took it and the ball swung in over the keeper and into the net for 2-0.  This prompted a spell of pressure with Toni lobbing the keeper, who managed to push the ball towards her won goal, but recover in time to grab it before it went over the line.

As Hatfield tried to mount attacks, most foundered on the heads or boots of Joy Dutch, Hoshi Cooper-Hutchinson or Shikiera Richards-Lake and good work in midfield by Patrizia Leo, Ryah, Charlie and Rebecca Hunneyball denied the visitors much space or time.

With space appearing in midfield, Ryah launched a long pass accurately to Toni, who put her shot just wide of the goal.  That was 15 minutes into the half and in the very next minute, Beth made a good run into the area, only to be bundled down for a penalty to be awarded.  Ryah stepped up to confidently convert the spot-kick.

With play being squeezed into midfield again, there were few chances being created, but with eight minutes left on the clock, Leesa put a ball that Toni challenged for and it fell into Beth's path.  The Spurs striker rifled a first-time shot that arrowed into the top corner to make it 4-0, bouncing out off the net support.

Further chances came when Patrizia rose to head a corner a foot wide and Shikiera moved forward to strike a 20 yard shot wide as the game ended with a good win for Tottenham.

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Barking Ladies  2     QPR  2    
Luton Town Belles  2     Harvesters  3    

The Under 14s didn't make the best of the conditions and slipped to a disappointing 4-3 defeat against Denham United Ladies.

Spurs playing with a strong wind behind they went behind in the first five minutes when the defence failed to clear their lines. However, Spurs came back into the game and went 2-1 ahead after 25 minutes through goals from Charlie Newson-Archer and Stavroulla Panayiotou. Spurs then missed a series of gilt-edged opportunities and were punished when Denham raced through to draw the scores level at 2-2 just before the break.

Spurs fell went 4-2 behind with two quick Denham goals at the start of the second half.  Spurs then recovered their composure, applied pressure and closed the gap to a single goal through a well taken effort from Stavroulla Panayiotou.  It was all Spurs in the dying minutes but the equaliser couldn't be found.

A good sporting match, played in an excellent spirit and well refereed.

GLENN WEAVER

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