A
fluent performance from Tottenham saw Lee Barnard lead the line with great
authority and it was his two goals that helped Tottenham to a comfortable
win. There was rain
in the air (and that was where it stayed) as the match kicked off on a
chilly night in front of Colin Calderwood, Joe Royle, Tony Mowbray, Pat
Holland, David Pleat and Hans Segers, as well as about 300 fans. In
the first half, Dean Marney played a storming game at right wing-back and
proved a thorn in the side for the Town players on that flank. His
pace troubled them and his dangerous crosses into the box were pacy and in
the channel between the six yard box and the penalty spot. His first
was headed inches wide by Barnard in the second minute and fifteen minutes
later, he picked out a low ball into the area. He found Barnard with
his back to the goal, but his first touch gave him the ability to turn
tightly away from his marker and the space to shoot home form six yards
out. It was a neat turn, reminiscent of Clive Allen's ability to use
small spaces in the box to leave defenders in his wake. Ipswich
had an early opportunity before the goal came for Spurs, with Martijn
Reuser blazing high over the bar, when Morrow had headed a cross back for
him. Abiddallah is a lively midfielder, who gave Spurs a tough time
last season, but he was restricted to long range efforts and a 10th minute
drive was saved low down by Burch, getting a run out in the absence of the
Plymouth bound Hirschfeld. A
flowing move in the 26th minute saw the ball ping across the width of the
pitch from Acimovic to Marney and back. Milo dinked a little cross
into the box and Barnard got in front of his marker, but could only get
his effort over the bar. Then came a moment of concern for both
sides. A long ball forward caught Tottenham's central defenders out
and Alun Armstrong latched onto it. As he advanced on goal, Burch
came out to close him down and as the shot came in, clattered into the
striker. The ball cleared Burch, but was off target and the Ipswich
man was left prostrate on the floor and after treatment, he left the field
on his feet. However, within minutes, the stretcher was required for
what looked like a severe dead leg, but was actually a bad cut to his
upper leg. As the
half was coming to a close, Milo was finding space on the left side and
his tricky turns were out-foxing his opponents, allowing him space to
play. A cross was headed over by the in-rushing Hughes and another
good move ended with Acimovic making a good run down the left to pull the
ball back to Barnard on the edge of the box, but his shot was not kept
down and it cleared the bar. It was a similar problem to that being
suffered by Reuser, who was presented with a decent opportunity between
the two Spurs chances, but from the 18 yard line, he managed to hit the
top of the stand. With
the Spurs defence having the upper hand, with Doherty looking assured and
Mabizela enjoying some time on the ball, there was little real threat to
the Ipswich attack. Twice in the first five minutes of the second
half Barnard tested how Supple would deal with low shots from the edge of
the box and he saved both, but Slabber quickly brought the goalie into a
charge from his line to thwart his move into the area, after good work
from Hughes and Acimovic. Mark Hughes had a very good game,
prompting play from his central midfield position and spreading play well
with his passing. He did pick up an early booking for kicking the
ball away, but that didn't affect his game, as he still challenged hard
for the ball, despite the possibility of the ref making it red next time
if he missed one. Burch
was brought into action just after the hour, when Abidallah's 30 yard
drive had to be turned aside with a flying save. Hughes and Barnard
were soon on the offensive at the opposite end of the pitch and Lee's
curling shot just missed the target by inches. His next effort
proved more profitable. Spurs
had earned a corner on their right wing. Acimovic took it, but it
was a poor low ball in and it was cleared out of the area to Marney.
Picking the ball up 20 yards out, he let fly and in the crowd of players
in front of the keeper was Barnard, who stuck out a leg to divert it over
Supple from three yards out. 2-0. Only
an amazing miss in the 77th minute let Ipswich of going further
behind. A O'Hara free-kick from the right wing was met by Mabizela
who had a free header. Unfortunately, he could only head it sideways
from just five yards out and it fell to Doherty, who's luck in front of
goal was exemplified by the ball ending up straight in the keeper's hands
from only three yards. Barnard left the field shortly afterwards
when a tackle left him limping and Michael Malcolm replaced
him. Jamie
O'Hara was relishing his starting role and hit a 30 yard shot just wide of
the right hand post and Reuser still couldn't beat Burch, this time with a
low shot that the Spurs keeper gathered safely. With injury
time being played, the move of the match rapped up the Tottenham
victory. Acimovic found himself on the left wing and he exchanged
passes (with the help of a back-heel) and spread the ball wide right to
Marney. Moving in support of him Milo took the ball and hit a cross
into the area, where Jamie Slabber had made an astute run and his diving
header hit the target, beating the keeper for pace. It was the only
contribution of note by Slabber in the match, as he had looked a little
off the pace, but you can't ask for much more from strikers. After
being caught in the stranglehold of the Town defence, one moment of
freedom made them pay. It
was a good performance, in contrast to the last match at Stevenage against
Charlton and with Chris Hughton back in charge for the evening, the team
looked happy on the ball and worked hard when not in possession. The
match rounded off 2003 nicely and they face three home matches in the
opening fixtures of the New Year, which could bump them up the table
considerably if they play like this again. |
