Spurs Women December Round-up
It’s time for another Spurs Women update and it wouldn’t be an update without it being late!
After a brief international break the ladies faced Everton on the 8th of December at home; the last time both sides met at Brisbane Road (as mentioned in the last post) was in early November last year and finished 1–1, Grace Clinton scored on the stroke of half-time, however, Aurora Galli scored from the penalty spot in the 85th minute.
Manager Robert Villahamn once again changed his side’s formation, in the last WSL fixture in the North London Derby he opted for a 5–4–1, in this match he went for a 4–4–2 against The Toffees.
In this game we saw Beth England and Martha Thomas start upfront, Heeps between the sticks, Maite Oroz started on the bench.
Everton created chances straight away when Melissa Lawley snatched the ball off Amanda Nildén and fired a long range effort at Eleanor Heeps who parried to safety.
After a shaky start from Spurs, they started to gather momentum and have a few chances, these included a long cross from Molly Bartrip, Beth England connected and rose up and headed just wide.
Minutes later Ash Neville crossed in from the right-hand side and found Beth England who once again had a her headed effort go wide.
However, in the 25th minute she was rewarded when Eveliina Summanen played a short corner to her, she played a quick ball to her Finnish team mate, who then passed it to Jess Naz, Naz looked up and saw Clare Hunt in the Everton box, the Aussie’s header was palmed away by Toffees’ keeper Courtney Brosnan. The ball fell to Beth England who slotted in from close range to give Spurs the lead.
The Lilywhites continued with their attacks, Haley Raso went on a marauding run and tested keeper Courtney Brosnan, however her effort was saved with ease. Jess Naz also had a header denied.
Despite their dominance, Everton scored just before half-time. Karen Holmgaard played a well-timed through ball to Katja Snoeijs and went on a darting run and hit a belter of a shot from about twenty yards out and sailed past Eleanor Heeps.
It took the home side just three minutes to go ahead in the second half. Referee Amy Hearns pointed to the spot after seeing Martha Thomas’s shirt had been pulled, thought it was difficult to see on the replay, The Lilywhites have had some bad penalty decisions go against them this season, so we’ll take it! Beth England struck a venomous effort past Courtney Brosnan to make it 2–1 to Spurs Women.
Everton had a few efforts in the second half but nothing that really fazed Eleanor Heeps. The Lilywhites nearly made it three in the latter stages of the game. Drew Spence played a lovely through ball over to Jess Naz who then ran into Everton’s box and shot from close range, however, Courtney Brosnan denied her effort.
This was a must-win for Robert Vilahamn’s side as they steared their way to safety. In his post match interview he stated that:
“Three points for us right now is really important but to be honest, I think we also had a quite good performance. The first twenty-five minutes was brilliant in these conditions and we scored a nice goal and we created chances, obviously we need to be sharp and in that mistake when they scored a goal and second half is difficult because of the wind but we actually found a few really good attacks and found a way to win. Eleanor getting her a first game in the league as well and if you look at it, it’s overall a performance.”
As Vilahamn alluded to in his interview, the weather caused issues in the game, a very miserable wet and windy day at Brisbane Road, but this didn’t stop the likes of Beth England who had a fantastic game is currently the top goalscorer with five goals.
Up next for the women’s side was Palace in the Cup, last time both London sides met was in late September when The Lilywhites thumped the Eagles 4–0 in the first WSL game of the season. Hayley Raso scored her debut in a Tottenham shirt, Naz, Spence and Ahtinen also got on the scoresheet on the day.
Spurs: Heeps, Neville, Bartrip, Hunt, Nilden, Summanen (Ahtinen 90+4), Spence, Raso (Vinberg 81), Thomas (Oroz 61), Naz (Gunning-Williams 90+4), England ©. Substitutes (not used): Talbert, Grant, Csiki, Wang, Dennis.
Attendance: 918
The game kicked off on Wednesday 11th December at Sutton United’s VBS Community Stadium. Manager Robert Vilahamn opted for a 4–3–3 this time instead of a 4–4–2 which he played in the league game against Everton. The Swede also changed the line-up, we saw Bühler, Grant, Ahtinen, Csiki, Oroz, Vinberg and Gunning-Williams all start.
The N17 side went on the attack straight away with Lenna Gunning-Williams hitting the post and then moments later playing a one-two with Martha Thomas, the 19 year old’s effort hit a low shot to Palace keeper’s Milla-Maj Majasaari’s left hand side, however the Finn parried to safety.
Judging by the highlights there wasn’t much going on in the first half, however, in the second, it took the away side just five minutes to take the lead. Ahtinen played a through ball to Gunning-Williams who pulled off a lovely turn past her Palace opponent with ease, the 19 year-old then found Martha Thomas who played a quick ball to Matilda Vinberg who slotted in from close range, 1–0 Spurs!
Spurs nearly doubled their lead when Martha Thomas tried a long-range effort and tried to chip Eagles’ keeper Milla-Maj Majasaari, however the former Anderlect player pushed over to safety.
However, in the 71st minute The Lilywhites finally doubled their lead, substitute Araya Dennis’s thunderbolt shot from inside the Palace box, Milla-Maj Majasaari didn’t stand a chance of saving the youngsters’ fine effort, her first goal in a Spurs shirt! Who said you couldn’t win anything with kids! 😉
Talking of youngsters, I thought Gunning-Williams had an excellent game, showed no fear and got stuck in, I hope to see more of her, I think she has the potential to become a fan favourite.
The Lilywhites topped Group E in the League Cup and face bitter rivals West Ham United in the quarter finals on the 22nd of January at Brisbane Road.
Spurs: Heeps, Neville, Bartrip ©, Buhler (Hunt 46), Grant (Bailey 88), Ahtinen, Csiki, Oroz (Wang 46), Vinberg, Gunning-Williams (Dennis 61), Thomas (England 68). Substitutes (not used): Talbert, Spence, Naz.
Attendance: 257
The final game of 2024 saw Spurs Women travel to West Sussex to face Brighton at Crawley’s Broadfield Stadium.
Last time Spurs played Brighton away was back in October 2023, The Lilywhites taking three points back to North London with a 3–1 win. Martha Thomas, Grace Clinton and Ria Percival scored on the day.
Robert Vilahamn once again opted for a 4–4–2, he tweaked the line-up slightly to the Everton game, Oroz came in midfield and Spence played up front with Bethany England. Heeps remained between the sticks for the visitors.
Both teams had a few chances in the first half but the game really changed tempo around 70 mins when Beth England put the visitors ahead. A beautifully crafted goal from Spurs with Jess Naz coming in from the right hand side and finding Martha Thomas, the Scottish international played a quick ball to England who fired in from close range.
However, The Seagulls equalised just seven minutes later. Ash Neville headed out a clearance but it was latched onto Marisa Olislagers and the former FC Twente player found the top corner with a ferocious strike.
This was another important game for Spurs especially closing 2024 with escaping the relegation zone, they looked a lot better defensively despite the error leading up to Brighton’s equaliser. Is this a catalyst going into 2025? We’ll see. As always, come on you Spurs!
Spurs: Heeps, Neville, Hunt, Bartrip, Nilden, Oroz (Thomas 53), Spence, Summanen, Naz, England ©, Raso. Substitutes (not used): Talbert, Grant, Vinberg, Csiki, Ahtinen, Buhler, Dennis, Gunning-Williams.
Attendance: 2,083
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