It was the first game of the season and with the resignation of the manager the day before, the THLFC committee had appointed Dave Shephard as the new manager for the game against Southend United.  It was a case of the girls and Dave getting to know each other and working out the best structure of the team to move forward for the rest of the season.

The game kicked off at 10.30am and both teams seemed to start brightly with possession about equal in the early stages.  After about five minutes Southend had a shot from the edge of the box which seemed to be going wide and our keeper Sophie Petros left, but it ended up in the back of the net.  So Southend went 1-0 up, but from the restart Spurs seemed to start playing some good football and within four minutes from the Southend goal being scored, Becky Shephard came in from the right and fired a low shot at goal which the Southend keeper could only push away and with Ruby Marlow following up it was an easy tap in for the equaliser. 

Both teams contested the rest of the game evenly and with about 20 minutes left of the first half Southend had another shot which again found the net, which made it 1-2 to the visiting team.

Half time came and the players came off very focused and knew where the mistakes from the first half had occurred and were determined to correct in the second half.  There had been quite a few changes in the first half and the second half had many changes as well, due to finding out the strengths within the team and to help the new manager move forward for the season.

The second half was a very gutsy performance by both teams due to the unusual hot weather.  It was a case of one team defending a lead and another going for an equaliser.  Southend defended superbly and tried to open Tottenham up on the counter attack.  Unfortunately, Spurs tried everything they could, but could not find the second goal and came away losing a very good match 1-2.

It was an even contest for the first game of the season and both sets of players should be proud of the way the contested a very good match in the opening weekend of the season.  Some individual performances in the spurs team was very pleasing for the new manager to see.  Lucky Di Biasio, Zoe Jackson and the lady of the match was Tessa Osborne for her strong tackling and tireless running up and down the wings from the left back position.  Overall a very good start and things can only get better.

The manager would like to thank the girls for the commitment they showed in the match.
 

dave shephard

luton town  9      watford ladies  1   
hampstead  2     cambridge city  0      

It started off a very exciting game with both teams battling hard in the midfield, which resulted in not many chances at either end and the half time finished 0-0.

The second half was a very different game.  Spurs Ladies started very brightly from the whistle and within four minutes of the re-start, they scored a very well worked goal.  It started from a well taken corner from Becky Shephard, which was cleared by the Watford defence.  The ball was then put straight back into the danger area again by Becky and when it was cleared to the edge of the box, Leasha Ngotho fired in a low hard drive, which found the corner of the net, making it 1-0 to Spurs.

Tottenham continued to attack with a lot of neat passing which seemed to open Watford up.  Rhiannon Kelly crossed from the right and Eleanda Taladianou fired over the cross bar.  With Spurs continuing to dominate, chance after chance was created.  First Aimee Rose had a shot which was saved and then the move of the game saw some very neat passing between the team ended up with Aimee putting a ball into Becky, which she hit on the volley and the Watford keeper pulled of a world class save to deny spurs a 2-0 lead.

Eleanda then had a shot deflected onto the post by a Watford defender, Ruby Marlow then had a turn and shot which went just wide and Eleanda had another shot which beat the keeper, but hit the post again.  Kirsty Cunoosamy had a great run from the back and nearly ended the move with a great goal, but she fired just wide. 

The score finished 1-0 to Spurs, but it could have been a lot more in the second half.  The Watford team battled to the end and might have sneaked a draw, but the Spurs team defended as a unit and came away with a well deserved three points.

Lady of the match was Leasha Ngotho for her tireless running in the midfield.

The manager was very happy with the team performance, but especially the team spirit and friendship shown on the pitch, which helped the girls get there first win of the season.  If the team works as hard as they did today for each other they can have a very good season ahead.

dave shephard

thlfc blues  0     hampstead  5    
cambridge city  8      denham united  0    
southend united  0     luton town  5     

Both teams competed with each other for the first half and the two teams had chances at either end but it finished 0-0 at half time.

The second half started very brightly for the away team with a string of attacks straight from the kick off, but the Spurs girls defended really well and limited Hampstead to long range efforts, which did not seem to trouble our new addition to the team Laura Baker, who was making her Spurs debut in goal.  The nearest Hampstead came was on 18 minutes of the second half when a shot went just over the cross bar.

With 20 minutes left Spurs came under pressure in their penalty area, which ended with a Hampstead player being brought down for a penalty.  The player stepped up and the penalty was not taken very well, which allowed Laura to save and keep the score 0-0.

Time was ticking away and with just 15 minutes left Hampstead got the breakthrough with some passing down the right and a cross which saw the forward put the ball beyond our diving keeper.  The game then seemed to go into over-drive with some neat attacking from both sides with Eleanda Taladianou having Tottenham's closest effort which just went over the bar. 

With five minutes left, the ball came down from some height and was not dealt with by the Spurs defender who misjudged the bounce and allowed Hampstead to take a 0-2 lead.  Spurs heads did not drop and within two minutes of the Hampstead goal, Becky Shephard left the Hampstead left back in her wake and crossed a delightful ball which Tarn Harris met and dispatched in to the corner of the goal to make it 1-2.

Spurs continued to press for the equaliser, making changes in midfield to put another front player on to keep the pressure on, but unfortunately, while pressing for the draw, Hampstead had a quick break which the defence misread and the final score ended 1-3 to the visitors.

Managers comments : -
The girls played with good spirit with some very good individual performances, the result did not reflect the game as a draw would have been a fairer result.  Two players stood out which is why they have both got the lady of the match for this week
Laura Baker for her debut in goal and she showed with more time in the team, she will get even better and for the first ever game penalty save.  The other player is Jodie Fenn who was asked to do a job in midfield and covered a lot of ground to carry out her instructions from the manager which contributed to a very good team effort. 

Well done girls keep going and we will become a very strong team to play against.

dave shephard

luton town  v  denham united  -  home win awarded
watford ladies  2    thlfc blues  1   
southend united  1     cambridge city  2     

Not a happy day for the girls of the thlfc u16s whites; the weather was abysmal and when the game kicked off, within the first attack Luton went ahead 1-0.

After about five minutes Victoria Matthews went down with a knee injury and was taken off and after a considerable amount of treatment she went off to hospital for a check up.  The rain was still coming down and Luton was now in a scoring mood with five more goals to go 6-0 up.

With about five minutes left of the first half Tessa Osborne, in defence, spun off to get the ball and collapsed in real agony.  Jayne, the team physio and the Luton coaching staff ran onto the pitch to attend Tessa, but after assessing the situation an ambulance was needed to be called because of a serious neck injury.

This long interruption saw the first half come to an end and after the ambulance left the second half started, but the girls were now down to the basic eleven players.  They battled till the end only conceding one more goal in the second half.

The injuries were not over as Rhiannon Kelly come off with about 15 minutes left with another knee injury.  The final score was 7-0; a game to forget, not because of the result, but because of the injuries suffered by the Spurs girls.

Manager's comments :
The Luton players and coaching staff should be thanked for their hospitality and help with the injured players.
Unfortunately, I was not at the game due to work commitments, but what I have heard the girls showed that battling spirit seen in previous games.  

dave shephard

cambridge city  3      watford ladies  1   

Another very good battling performance from the Spurs Under-16 Whites girls, but, unfortunately, the result was not in their favour.

It was a very closely contested first half, but with five minutes left before the break, a midfield error allowed the visitors to break through and take a 1-0 lead and that's how it finished for the first half.

The second half started very brightly with both teams playing some good football and Tottenham had the first break through with a shot from Beth Brown Hunter Scott that just went over the bar.  Spurs kept pressing and with only five minutes gone of the second half Becky Shephard powered the ball past the Cambridge keeper only to be adjudged off-side.  The visitors ran through, only to shoot wide.

The game was now opening up and Beth Brown Hunter picked the ball up on the edge of the box and weaved her way into the area to score the equaliser.  The visitors then started to press and were awarded a free kick on the right edge of the box, which the Cambridge player despatched into the corner of the goal for a 1-2 lead.  Spurs continued to work very hard and pressed Cambridge all the way.  Becky then seemed to run through and beat the offside trap for a one on one with the keeper, but again the flag went up.  With minutes left Cambridge received a corner which seemed to confuse the Spurs girls and ended up in the goal for a final score of 1-3. 
 

Manager's comments
With the commitment and togetherness the girls are showing as a team, they will soon turn these defeats into wins. 

The lady of the match was Aimee Rose who worked very hard up front but also helped in midfield when needed.

dave shephard

watford ladies  v  hampstead  -  match postponed 
thlfc blues  2     luton town  4     

The second half was a different game with Tottenham having the strong wind on their side and they soon set about trying to reduce the deficit.  Two quick goals narrowed the score to 5-3.  One came from a header by Zoë Jackson, flicking on a free-kick from Becky Shephard and then a piece of individual play from Kirsty Cunoosamy ended with a shot from outside the area that beat the United keeper and went in off the post.

Spurs kept pushing forward and with about ten minutes left Zoë turned awkwardly on her ankle and the game was stopped to wait for an ambulance to attend the serious injury.  When the game did restart after a lengthy delay, the Spurs girls were now down to only ten players, having already lost Aimee Rose with a wrist injury, but they carried on where they left off and pushed forward for the goals to put pressure on the hosts, but unfortunately time was against them.

Manager's comments
The scored finished 5-3 to Southend, but the girls know they were beaten by a poor performance in the first half and moving forward, they will work hard to continue building a very good side and correcting the small mistakes happening during matches.  Once the girls find their way we will be a very hard team to play against. 

Lady of the match : - Kirsty Cunoosamy

Well done girls keep up the good work.

dave shephard

hampstead  1     luton town  3     
thlfc blues  0     watford ladies  1   

hampstead  2     watford ladies  1   
luton town  2      cambridge city  1     

luton town  5      southend united  1    
cambridge city  8      thlfc blues  1    

The HCGFL home game against Luton Town started off brightly for Spurs, who only had the bare eleven players for this fixture.  However, the first attempt came from Spurs with a cross from Becky Shephard for Ruby Marlow just to miss out at the far post. 

The game then settled down and both teams were playing some good football when the visitors made the break through to take a 1-0 lead soon after they made it 2-0 from a corner kick.  That's how it finished at half time.
The second half was totally different with the girls finding the pace hard because of only having eleven players, but they kept battling to the end unfortunately the score finished 0-6 to the visitors.

Manager's comments :
On the positives of the game, Leasha Ngotho was asked to play right back - not her normal position - where she did extremely well, which is why I have given her lady of the match.
The other positives and negatives of today's game is that some players came back from serious injuries to play today after long lay offs, but unfortunately some of them did not come through the game as we would have liked and could be out for a bit longer to let their injuries heal even more.  Overall the girls should be proud of their performance today and with the belief I have in them, because they are a great little side, they will learn from this game and move on to improve even further.
Well done girls keep your heads up and believe in yourselves.

dave shephard

watford ladies  -    cambridge city  -     
southend united  7     hampstead  1    

dave shephard

watford ladies  0    southend united  2    
hampstead  7     thlfc blues  0    

watford ladies  v  luton town  -      match postponed 
cambridge city  v  hampstead  -  match postponed 
thlfc blues  0     southend united  6