TUESDAY 19TH SEPTEMBER, 2000
WORTHINGTON CUP 2ND RD 1ST LEG
http://www.spursodyssey.co.uk
Referee:- Graham Barber
Attendance:- 8,580
Brentford(4-4-2):- Gottskalksson;
Crowe, Marshall, Ingimarsson, Marsh; Rowlands, Evans (Capt),
Quinn, Mahon; McCammon, Scott
Subs not used:- Paul Smith (GK);
Kennedy, Javary, Folan, Partridge
Booked:- Evans, Quinn (Fouls)
Spurs (4-4-2):- Sullivan; Carr, Perry,
Campbell (Capt) (sub Vega, 36), Thatcher; Leonhardsen, Freund,
Clemence, Etherington (sub Walker, 61); Rebrov (sub Ferdinand, 80),
Iversen
Subs not used:- Davies, Sherwood
Sent Off:- Sullivan (Professional foul)
I suppose in the wet
conditions, and persistent rain, it was never going to be a night
for pretty football, but Brentford (who languish 58 places below
Spurs in the league) were the only heroes to emerge from tonights
proceedings, and whilst Spurs had plenty of chances to put
themselves ahead in the tie, I would not begrudge the plucky
hosts their draw. Indeed it was a bad night all round for Spurs,
as they lost skipper Sol Campbell with only 35 minutes on the
clock, and had Neil Sullivan sent off on the hour for a
professional foul.
Sol has dislocated his
shoulder as a result of a routine aerial challenge with Mark
McCammon, left the field in some pain, and is a doubt for the
next two England games next month. Whilst it was the 17 year old
Brentford keeper who had more saves to make, the travelling Spurs
fans soon got bored with the football, and wheeled out some old (and
mostly base) chants. Towards the end of the game they were
crowing for Hoddle, Hoddle, born is the King of White Hart
Lane, and some resounding choruses of We want Graham
out. If you look at the current forum page of the official
web site you will see that the majority of contributors are
wholeheartedly behind Graham. One wonders how many of them are
paying customers. George switched the side a bit, resting
Sherwood, and giving Matthew Etherington a chance on the left,
also bringing Thatcher back to the fray. Etherington was patchy,
and I dont feel made the most of this opportunity to
impress, against average opposition. Freund and Clemence
struggled to provide any flair in the middle, and Sergei Rebrov
was not too visible on his introduction to the English Cup Tie.
Ron Noades is still in
charge at Brentford, and despite their poor league form, he has
obviously got the ability to inspire his team, who to be honest
put Spurs under a bit of pressure in the early stages. Sullivan
had an early save to make from a free kick just outside the area,
taken I believe by Evans. At the other end Steffen Freund shared
dead ball responsibilities with Clemence, and Steffen pushed the
ball to Leonhardsen, whose cross/shot was punched out by the
young keeper, who was given some pretty rotten treatment by the
Spurs fans as the half wore on. Yet this was not the first
important save he had to make, as he was soon called upon to push
another Leo effort round for a corner. In truth, Leonhardsen had
time to spare with this effort, and should have scored with ease,
in my view.
In between these two
chances for Spurs, Rowlands floated a deep cross over from the
right, and Gavin Mahon appeared Peters-style at the back post,
but headed safely over the bar. A third chance arrived for
Leonhardsen, this time provided by Carr. Instead of scoring
himself, Leo tried to set up Matthew Etherington, who wasted his
glorious opportunity by flashing his shot across the target.
Sol tried to lead by
example and nearly slid in a goal from a Clemence free kick, only
to put the ball to the left of the post. Our leader then powered
his way out of defence, to provide scoring chances for Iversen
and Etherington, both of which were blocked. This was to be the
last action from Sol, who had to be escorted from the pitch,
clearly in considerable discomfort, after his aerial challenge in
defence.
The game remained very
patchy after the interval, and it was a long time
before any memorable moves were played.
Iversen sprayed a long ball to the
left, and made it all the way to the
goalmouth to almost meet the return
cross, then Rebrov had a shot diverted
heavily for a corner after Clemence
put him in. Sergei then met a Leo cross
at the near post, but his shot was
two yards wide of the mark
Then came the moment
of (justified?)madness from Sullivan. Evans burst clear of the
defence, and had only Sullivan between him and a near certain
goal. Neil went racing out of his area, and 30 yards out spread
his body across Evans legs, bringing him down. I dont
think referee Barber had any choice really, but Sullivan did what
he had to do, if you ask me, and he did not grab the guys
ankles. I think he saved what would have been a goal.
Ian Walker may be
ruing that transfer request now, as he is going to get an
opportunity to win his place back. He did look quite nervous, but
for much of the remainder, Spurs took the bull by the horns, and
did succeed in playing in their opponents half, although there
were one or two scares, such as an underhit back pass by Perry,
and Walker only managing to tip a fairly routine cross out of
danger.
Rebrov and Clemence (twice)
forced further saves from Gottskalksson, and then the final
whistle relieved us from further disjointed play, allowing us to
trudge home and look forward (if that is the right expression) to
the return next week.