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A star studded audience witnessed the birth
of a new Spurs star in Stephane Dalmat. Glenn Hoddle, Hans Segers,
David Pleat, Trevor Brooking, former Tottenham winger Terry Dyson, Kenny
Jackett, Spurs fitness coach Kunle Odetoyinbo, Spurs Under-19 manager Pat
Holland, former Spurs and current West Ham Secretary Peter Barnes and
former Spurs boss Keith Burkinshaw all witnessed a smooth performance by
the Frenchman, who will surely get a starting place against SCBC at the
weekend.
His movement with the ball and a full range
of pin-point passing made fans purr every time he got the ball and his
performance was capped by a fine goal, having already made the first one
for Poyet. He was not the only good performer, as most of the
Tottenham team could lay claim to praise from the manager. Jackson
crunched into the tackle, OJ looked comfortable on the ball and his pass
selection was very good, Barnard pestered the Hammers defence all night,
while Jonathan Blondel looked lively and inventive. Poyet came
through the match intact and played very well, while Ziege was a little
more circumspect in his involvement, but produced some good balls into the
box.
From the first minute, both sides showed
their attacking intent, with Garcia hitting a shot just a yard wide and
Dalmat producing a 20 yard effort that bounced awkwardly in front of the
keeper. Almost straight away, Ziege linked neatly with Gus on the
left and pulled the ball back from the dead ball line for Poyet to hit a
shot that cannoned off the crossbar. West Ham hit back and Burch
took a free-kick in the midriff and held on, while Sofaine fired wide when
in the box.
Johnnie Jackson was getting forward to
support the front two and put in a lot of effort all game. He was
denied by Bywater after his touch let the ball run away from him in the
box and then fired a shot into a blocking Iron. From the resulting
corner, Dalmat hit a rising shot from the right of the box, that the
keeper did well to hold. Jackson also had a nice one-two with Poyet
later in the half that put him in on the left, but his effort was wide.
On the half-hour, Stephen Kelly made an
outstanding clearance in the six yard box as the ball dropped and Byrne
closed in. The Irish Under-21 won almost everything in the air
through the middle and his pace stopped Garcia and Sofaine getting away on
more than one occasion.
Mabizela was advancing too and his run from
half-way was stopped on the edge of the area, but the ball fell to Ziege,
who played him back in and his fierce shot flew over the top. OJ
could step into Ledley's boots on Saturday and the watching Hoddle will
have been heartened by his performance, even though it was against a load
of kids !! Spurs were pressing the ball when West ham had it all
over the pitch, but then out of the blue Garcia let fly a rocket of a shot
from 30 yards that flew past Burch and went in off the post. It was
the first Irons effort on target and came just two minutes before the
break.
Spurs came out with the same eleven to
start and nearly went 0-2 down, when a cross flew across the face of goal
with two West ham players unable to make contact. However, Poyet
played in Jackso and from a narrow angle on the left, his goal-bound shot
was pushed out by Bywater. From the corner, Jonathan Blondel got a
header on the ball, but it hardly troubled the keeper.
Seven minutes into the half and Kelly made
his one mistake, when he slipped leaving Byrne through, but Rob Burch
saved the first shot and the follow-up went wide. As the play swung
to the other end, Laws was booked for felling Blondel on the edge of the
box as he bore down on goal. He could have been sent off, but the
ref, who booked many players for their first foul on the night, showed him
yellow and all Spurs got was a free-kick. Unfortunately, it was not
one of Ziege's best efforts and flew out of the ground !! At least
he could smile about it !! Tottenham
were starting to get frustrated and Poyet was booked for a two footed
lunge and Byrne had another chance to extend the lead, but slid the ball
wide when in on Burch. It was the turning point of the match. In
the next attack, Stephane Dalmat made a solo run in the right hand side of
midfield and when inside the box, played a neat reverse pass to Gus, who
swept the ball in for the equaliser in the 65th minute. Just after
the restart, Kelly lost a bobbling ball to Sofaine, but managed to get
back to produce a great tackle on the winger. He did the same to
Garcia later on, just as he cocked his foot to shoot on goal, but Kelly's
timing was perfect and he made a great difference in the heart of the
defence. 69 minutes on the clock and
Dalmat goes off on another strong run, this time down the middle.
His close control kept the ball glued to his feet and he laid the ball off
to Poyet on the right hand side of the box. This time, Gus returns
the compliment and lays it square for our new number 11 to strike the ball
home to give Spurs the lead. Blondel
had a chance to the left of the goal after Galbraith had chased a high
ball down and his shot was pulled across the face of goal, while Poyet got
back into his own area to defend and prevent Noble getting a shot on goal
at the death. Apart from a couple of late yellow cards - one for
each side - the game was left to Dalmat to show his range of passing and
Hoddle must have been pleased with the way this midfielder took hold of
the match and turned it Tottenham's way. Players do not often do
that at this level and it was good to see that he was determined to do
well. His skill set him apart from many on the pitch and his link
play with Poyet and Blondel showed an instant understanding which will
bode well if he can transfer that to the first team. This
was the first win of the season for the Reserves and if they keep playing
in this hard-working and entertaining way, it surely won't be the
last. If only the first team could do the same !! |
