Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 BFC, Tuesday 19th September 2017

‘Your ground’s too big for you’

Welcome to...errr....Tottenham!?

Don’t we do well for ourselves?  Having spent 77 years trying to get to Wembley (it wasn’t built till 1923) I make this 5 times in 17 years, including 3 in 3.  Thus, I s’pose it’s about time the novelty wore off slightly, and a crowd of 23,000 rattling around the national stadium doesn’t do much to invoke the passion.  Still, a decent turnout from the Reds, over 3,000 for a midweeker.  I’ll see you all at Millwall in a week and half…

The Super Reds

It would have been great to meet up with ex-Londontyke pool team member and in reality Spurs fan Jamie, but time wouldn’t allow; I had a partner to feed (Wagamama, South Bank) and a Londontyke to meet to hand over a match ticket…for West Ham.  Phil would rather tick off a new ground than waste time watching an EFL Cup game at the ‘home of football’ and I take his point.  Why should the national stadium be used for a game of this lack of magnitude?  A couple of summers ago, I saw Hertha Berlin play a Europa League qualifier, and instead of using the 75,000 Olympic Stadium, they played the game at a stadium in East Berlin and it was a 20,000 sellout.  I could have done with Spurs doing similar.  Craven Cottage beats Wembley hands down.

'Wembley Park is Alive.'  Yeah, right.

Having said that, it was great to bump into the Slacks at Wembley Park, and the walk down Wembley Way is pleasant enough, even if tonite lacked the vitality of previous.  I won one bet tho – those ubiquitous half and half scarves were on sale again.  I considered buying Molly one, to complement his Man City-BFC effort, but I didn’t.  They’re sh*t.

There was even time for a beer, bumping into odds and sods of others we know and love, before we took our seats – only we couldn’t.  The more raucous element of our support had taken it upon themselves to stand at the back and bang the ceiling, which appeared to be made of tin, judging by the noise.  Sarah was unimpressed, we went to sit elsewhere….and before long, Andy led a tribe of oldies out from the darkness to a spot more befitting of persons our age: we went and sat on our own, somewhere up from the corner flag.  Ahhh, that's much better.

Looking towards the Spurs' end.

Then the game started and Spurs reserves ran rings around us.  (To be fair, can I just point out we’d made plenty of changes as well, with star man Hamill being benched.)  Spurs were bigger, and faster…and just better.  I s’pose we couldn’t grumble.  But the tendency to let some bloke amble forward with the ball 30 yards into our own half (three times) became jarring.  Thank goodness Spurs were either trying to Arsenal it in (oh, the irony) or they wellied it miles over the bar (too numerous to count).  Mind, we coulda..shoulda…gone ahead.  Barnes broke free on the left and all he had to do was play it across for some Red or other to have a one-on-one.  So he delayed, and delayed...and scuffed it to the keeper.  Poor.  Llorente meantime buried a simple header over the bar.  0-0 at half time and only 75 minutes to go before we could force penalties.

Behind the goal.

I don’t know what was said at half time, but we came out like a house on fire.  Within a minute Uggy was clean through, but the ball took an age to drop, he was forced a little wider than he wanted, and despite the thunderous half-volleyed shot, Vorm saved.  I’d have enjoyed that one going in, given how many fans hadn’t come back to their seats yet.  But this appeared no fluke, as we took the game to Spurs for a quarter of an hour.  They were really on the back foot, so it came as no surprise when Spurs went down the other end and Trippier (of all people) pulled the ball back for Ali to have a tap in.  Ok, so a defender just watched as Ali anticipated and ran past him, but hey!  He’s one of England’s better players, and otherwise, we defended well all nite.  Hamill and Bradshaw were subsequently thrown on, but the game petered out and we never really looked like scoring.  Well done Spurs, and at least it saves us going to Wembley again (in the EFL Cup, anyway).  A valiant effort, all in all.

Who else but...?

*** Ugbo.  Struggled to keep hold of it 1^st half (they all did) but grew into the game and posed a real threat.  This lad could go far. 

** McCarthy.  Again, I was impressed with his ability to tackle and block shots.  He looks a bargain at £200k.

* Lindsay.  Both he and MacDonald snuffed out the Llorente threat.

Londontykes' MOTM: 1. Ugbo  2= Lindsay/McCarthy/Williams

Despatches:
The Spurs support was a bit sh*t – but I sat amongst Spurs fans when we played them in the Prem, and they were sh*t then an’ all.  A bit like a league cup game for us, when we’re playing lower division rubbish.  As for our players, well, the Wembley pitch is a bit far away (even if it isn’t the ‘London Stadium’) and I can’t say I really noticed Bird or Williams (apart from when the latter gave the ball away).  But everyone else says he’s good, so he must be.  Davies was excellent, a couple of good saves and safe hands, while MacDonald was back to form at centre back.  The most worrying player was Fryers, who could well be a footballer, but doesn’t look a left-back.  Then again, he was constantly doubled-up on by Trippier+friend, and I didn’t see him getting much help.
  
Drink du jour: I had a pint of Erdinger in the Beer House, Waterloo.  Six pounds forty-five pence.  I thought I’d misheard and handed over a tenner awaiting change.  I need to be less British and next time tell them where to stick their pint.  Message to the Old #7 crew: don’t moan when you have to buy me a £3.70 bottle of Erdinger next home game!

Onwards and upwards!

Crowd: 23,826 (3,300 away)

The Damage:
£10 ent
£3.50prog
£2.50 water
= £16

The Tunes:
Garlands (Cocteau Twins)
God Fodder (Ned’s Atomic Dustbin)

Spurs v Barnsley panorama.