Report

This match report could be written in a number of different ways but I've decided it's probably best to focus on the football rather than the performance or the referee, some of the appalling foul play and post match behaviour of a certain section of those associated to Tottenham (not the coaching staff who were perfect hosts).

Against a physically strong & fast opposition our girls took a while to get used to the extra physicality with us being bullied a little for the opening 15 minutes but credit to Ellie, Jasmine & Chloe who remained totally focused in defence to prevent a breakthrough. Lauren Dobson in goal also repeatedly came off her line to make brave saves at the feet of strikers.

If we have an Achilies Heel its being far too slow to react sometimes in defensive positions, especially from set pieces, and again we paid the penalty when the ball rebounded off our crossbar back into play and whilst the Colts held a commitee meeting & secret ballot to decide who might clear the ball a Spurs player ran from 10 yards to stick the ball in our net. Oh dear!!!

However, far from buckling we started to play some lovely football with Jemma charging around midfield winning tackles and playing forward and Amy & Lucy playing some lovely through balls to the dynamic duo of Tayla & Lauren up front to frighten the home defenders. Amy played two of the best curved through balls using the outside of her foot that I have seen in girls football that almost led to goals and it was perhaps no surprise when Tayla broke through the home defence and drilled home a low equaliser.

Three minutes before half time and our man Achilles was back in action in our penalty box when we failed to clear a loose ball swiftly enough and got caught in possession. Q a 1-2 deficit at HT.

The second half saw many tackles of the sort I last saw in the Ryman League with Amy being forced outr the game after an awful challenge from behind but the Colts were far from innocent as a equally poor challenge led to a home player being forced off injured. As both sides became increasingly heated with other the Colts cranked up the heat when a quick Tayla corner was volleyed home first time by Lauren Yeats for a stunning leveller.

More of the same followed as a succession of Colts needed on field treatment with Jemma forced off injured and Ellie almost unable to run. A weak challenge in a left midfield area led to a great cross and finish from the Spurs for 2-3 and then (how do I word this?) the referee awarded a penalty to the home team much to the surprise of almost everyone watching (other than those who talked him into the decision). 2-4.

Down to eight players and two goals down with only minutes left we drove forward again and Tayla reduced the score to 3-4 with a great solo run & finish but sadly we were to be denied the chance of an equaliser by the officials decison not to play a single second of added time despite the numerous stoppages for injuries. In fairness to Spurs they were equally amazed as the disappointed Colts.

In short this was a very good & very brave performance where we had to stand up for ourselves under great pressure and not only did we do this we continued to play some great passing football.

Some extra's worthy of mention was Lauren Dobson's unbelievable save at 2-2 when for all the world it looked like Spurs had scored with a hammered low shot only for Lauren to drive full length to tip up and over the bar. Absolutely fabulous save!!! Lauren deservedly won PoM but special mention to Hannah who was superb. Strong in the tackle, great bursting forward and a brilliant attitude. Great game Hannah. Nevertheless all our girls deserve praise for their efforts in this game. This was a big step forward regardless of the result.