Burch

Taricco
Defendi
Kelly (c)
Ifil

Dilevski
Jackson
Marney
Yeates

Silva Sousa
Barnard

Unused subs: 
Fulop
McKie
Hughes
O'Donoghue
Slabber

Makabu

D. Smith
Watt
Morais
Hudell (Brand 53)

Grant (Younghusband 71)
J. Smith (Pettigrew 62)
Hollands
Tillen
Oliveira

Woodards

Unused subs: 
Russell
Simmonds

Silva Sousa 28
Silva Sousa 30
Jackson 49

Chelsea 

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J. Smith (foul) 58

Having a few of them sitting around me, they had no knowledge of who the players in blue shirts were nor much idea about the game and how it should be played.  I felt pity for the young kid with two adults, who was being told that every goal Spurs scored was offside, every tackle they made was a foul and that if the first team had been playing they would be beating Tottenham.  I was so close to calling the Social Services !!

Anyway, that wasn't necessary because the performance Tottenham put on really put Chelsea to the sword.

Some crisp passing and great movement off the ball saw Tottenham rip the Blues apart without having much to deal with in defence.  Things didn't look too good in the first attack, when Dean Marney hit a shot 20 yards wide from 25 yards out !!  However, Spurs were soon moving the ball neatly and only the lineman's flag denied them scoring chances in the first 15 minutes.  He did get four out of the five offside decisions wrong, so you could call that "consistent", albeit being wrong most of the time !!

The ball was flying across the face of the Chelsea goal, with Barnard laying one back to Marney, whose shot was deflected wide, then from the corner, Jackson's cross was a bit too far beyond Yeates at the far post.  It was 25 minutes before Chelsea had a shot in anger and Burch grabbed Hollands' drive comfortably.

After 28 minutes, Spurs crafted a lead with a flowing move.  Eddie Silva Sousa took a quick throw in near halfway, to Marney.  He had to stretch to head it over the player closing him down, but then played it wide right to Dilevski, who moved it on to Ifil to run on to on the wing.  He put in a cross with pace on it across the face of the goal and it took out the keeper, leaving Silva Sousa the easiest of header fro inside the six yard box to give Tottenham their first goal.

Chelsea tried to hit back with Tillen's low drive taken well by Burch, but on the half hour, the ball was fed out to Mark Yeates on the left wing.  He tricked his way cleverly past the defender and whipped in a beauty of a cross and again, there was Silva Sousa with his head to double the score and he sat on the fence behind the goal to take the applause.  It was a very good goal with the passing and movement making the creation a thing to be savoured.

Spurs were enjoying the space they were making and when Taricco, who had a good game (accepting he committed some of his petty fouls), hit a long ball down the left wing, Lee Barnard got the ball, played it in to Silva Sousa.  He headed the ball on to Marney on the "D" and his volley bounced just wide.  That was the last serious action fo the first half and Spurs went into the dressing room satisfied with their first 45 minutes work 

When they started the second half, it was obvious that they were not ready to sit back.  Yeates immediately took on two defenders on the left, cut into the box, checked out and toe-poked a shot that almost caught the keeper out, but he managed to push it wide.  From the resulting corner, Marney hit a volley from the edge of the box and it was saved by Makabu.

However, in the 49th minute, an excellent move from back to front opened the way for Tottenham's third goal.

The ball came out of defence, with Ifil taking the ball across the face of the box and feeding Divelski.  His diagonal pass cleared the Chelsea defender to leave Mark Yeates with a clear run down the line and his jinking run left the defender in his wake.  He then picked out a perfect cross to find Johnnie Jackson coming in to head home in front of Makabu from close range.

Winning back the ball from the kick off, Silva Sousa broke away on the right, pulling the ball back low across goal and Lee Barnard having to pull wide at the far post could only get a shot in that went wide, with the keeper out of his goal.  Barnard was also unlucky ten minutes later when Jackson's cross was just behind him as he shaped to volley.  Dean Marney picked off a short Chelsea pass on the edge of the box and curled a shot that ended up inches wide of the mark.

With 70 minutes gone Yeates hit a shot into the side netting, almost catching out the keeper at his near post and then, four minutes later, Spurs almost scored from a Chelsea free-kick.  The ball hit the Tottenham wall on the edge of their own box, then Barnard chased down the ball taking it off a defender on the halfway line.  It moved from Yeates back to Barnard on the right and the goalie's legs deflected the ball wide.  The same part of his anatomy kept Dilevski out two minutes later and just when it looked as though "Barney" Barnard might get the goal he deserved, with minutes left, he was again denied by a flailing leg of Makabu.  Kelly had played the ball out from the back, Taricco played Dilevski up the line and he found Silva Sousa.  His pass to Barnard produced a low shot that flew off the keeper's leg and somehow went over the bar.

The only threat in the second half came from a free-kick on the Spurs right which went across the area and Ifil cleared away at the far post.

Clive Allen has really got the team playing well now.  The newcomers like Dilevski and Defendi are looking more comfortable and while he lacks constant involvement, Silva Sousa is doing what he was brought in to do and that is to score goals.  Marney and Jackson were industrious in midfield, with Jacko doing a bit better than he has been in the first team, while Mark Yeates provided the skill and "fantasy" to open up the opposition defence.  Lee Barnard worked hard, showed excellent control and played the role of a target man to perfection, bringing others into play and hassling the life out of the Chelsea defenders.  Ifil and Kelly had exemplary games, while Taricco looked solid and produced some good passes out of defence.

MEHSTG TOP MAN : -  MARK YEATES