Cardiff City fought hard, never looked inferior to Premier Division Spurs but, just like City had that extra bit of quality that helped us beat Crewe last weekend, Spurs had it tonight beating the Bluebirds thanks to a typical classy Teddy Sheringham half-hour strike. As soon as the draw was made, the glamour of a visit to White Hart Lane captured the imagination of City fans. The stadium was great, the football was enjoyable, the atmosphere inside the ground just fantastic but I'm sure many fans will have had their experience tarnished by incidents outside the ground before and after the match.
More than 50 coaches, 3,500 City fans and many more in Spurs' area of the gorund. Our coach made you realise where the expression 'slowcoach' came from. Its classic feature? An on-board toilet that flushed straight to the road!
Most set off more than 6 hours before kick-off as London was affected by a tube strike putting more traffic on the roads but even thought we hit the M25 at rush hour, the traffic flowed rather than stopped and when we pulled into a leafy, village to a pub just 3 miles from the ground and who were pleased to have us, we had plenty of drinking time. It was all very calm, little were we to know what was to come.
As we neared White Hart Lane, 20 minutes before kick-off, it felt like entering a war zone. The London Evening Standard ran a huge story on the number of coaches Cardiff were bringing to town and our reputation and it brought out the lowest of the low local scum onto the streets, a few hundred outside clearly with no interest in the match or going to the game.
Our coach had to run the gauntlet with police everywhere to stop the baying hoardes from attacking us even though it was obviously a family coach. The coach was hit several times, probably causing improvements to it!, but nothing smashed. Most of it was bravado and posturing from the big, brave local boys. It did however make us miss the first fifteen minutes of the match while we were a sitting target.
I'd say very few City fans will have had a positive experience. The Met Police, causing as many problems as the ones they were trying to diffuse, were heavy handed in their ways and attitude. City fans who arrived early were herded into a couple of away pubs, then locked inside, the pubs coming under attack. There was a turnstile farce for those who arrived early and hundreds still outside as the game started. Programmes sold out, all hot food sold out within 20 minutes of kick-off. Premier League? My arse!
Sometimes you wonder why you bother being a football fan, take times off work and spent a small fortune to put up with all of this.
In that time, we missed a bright opening with Spurs in the ascendency but major chances for both teams as Sheringham made Alexander save then his clever flick on resulted in Acimovic hitting the far post from close range with Alexander beaten but he should have netted. In between, Earnie was within a fraction of magic as he met a ball over the top inside Spurs area but failed to control and the ball ran harmlessly to Kasey Keller .... according to other City fans, I wouldn't know.
Now inside the impressive White Lane Stadium (it appeared to be a mini version of our own Millennium Stadium, tiered stands running bowl-shaped around the pitch and good views wherever you were, City fans to the side of one goal running around past a corner flag, my first glimpse of the action was City's closest attempt. Willie Boland let fly from 30 yards, Keller was helpless and relieved to see the ball smash off his crossbar, bounce out but go safe.
Did Hoddle use his psychic side-kick, Eileen Drewery, to keep the ball out? If he did, money well spent!
Cardiff had one enforced change injured from the team fielded in their last 5 league games, Peter Thorne was injured from a knock taken in the Crewe clash last weekend. Somewhat surprisingly, Lennie opted to use Andy Campbell as the replacement alongside Earnie in attack. I would have preferred to have seen Leo, a type of player Spurs defenders would rarely come across.
For all the pre-match talk of a Spurs injury crisis, their fielded side hardly looked that weak. They were:
Kasey Keller
Maurtico Taricco
Milenko Acimovic
Dean Richards
Steffen Freund
Ben Thatcher
Goran Bunjevcevic
Steffen Freund
Matthew Ethrington
Simon 'Welsh wonder' Davies
Teddy Sheringham
Robbie Keane
Their substitute bench included the likes of Gary Doherty, Steffan Iversen and Les Ferdinand. Darren 'sick note' Anderton was injured though, surprise surprise! Hardly a scratch team however!!
Significantly for Spurs, and to City's detriment, it was the game Steffan Freund chose to make his return after 9 months absence and his man of the match performance stood out as he disrupted Cardiff's midfield trio of Whalley, Kav, Boland - sometimes almost single-handedly imposing himself on them.
It was his control over the play, Teddy Sheringham's undoubted class and intelligence in attack and Simon Davies' trademark powerful running up and down the right side of the pitch that was they key difference throughout the game. It also allowed Spurs to dominate the rest of the half despite City's best attempts and a vocal backing that Spurs fans acknowledge is likely to be the loudest they are likely to experience all season.
Neil Alexander, in superb form and probably City's best player on the night, saved a Robbie Keane flicked header, then rushed out as Keane broke clear, his shot going wide but was powerless to prevent Sheringham's half hour match winner.
Freund won the ball, strode forward, played it wide to Spurs other comeback man, Tarrico, and his whipped ball across the area was met by SHERINGHAM who got ahead of Gabbidon and showed outstanding technique to flick past Alexander from 10 yards.
Cardiff were on the rack at this point. They were giving 100% and to their credit, never panicked at all. They knocked the ball about well and looked very comfortable but unable to create anything worthwhile in the final third. Spurs, meanwhile, were close again with Davies, Sheringham, Keane and Ethrington either bringing saves out of Alexander, mostly routine, or going close.
Half-time: SPURS 1 CITY 0
Now attacking towards us, expectancy and hopes remained high amongst City fans and with that, the chanting got louder and remained incessant. In fairness, the Spurs support was very good too, especially coming from a section nearest our support to our right which made for a great atmosphere overall.
Spurs started with a couple more chances, Alexander making a simple stop then Sheringham firing well over the bar as he met a low drilled corner. City were now starting to apply themselves more however and Kav, putting in another excellent performance, raised hopes as he let fly with a 25 yard blaster, his shot always going wide but only just missing. This was followed by Andy Legg curling a free-kick over the bar.
City were now seeing plenty of the ball and, arguably, getting the better of the territory and possession. They were now matching Spurs for play and putting some neat touches and moves together as they started to exert some pressure. However, a combination of City never quite finding that cutting edge and Spurs defence looking calm and controlled meant that City's play was not being converted into efforts at goal. You had to admire and credit Cardiff though, they had adjusted to playing superior opposition by playing them at football.
Who would have thought we would be able to do this just over 2 years ago as we were relegated to Division Three?? Cardiff City, under Sam Hammam, have made huge strides and our progress isn't going to stop for a long time yet.
Spurs were now playing on the break, most chances falling to Robbie Keane but Alexander was his equal every time. City's best chance came with 15 minutes remaining as a sprayed Kav ball sent Andy Campbell racing clear but he snatched at his shot and screwed it narrowly wide of the far post.
Neil Alexander made a superb stop form Simon Davies as City had a final gamble with Leo Fortune-West and continued to take the game to their opponents and give Spurs an uncomfortable closing to the game. It was admirable stuff but we never made the big breakthrough, Kav's free-kick block and Gabbidon twice going close, firstly with a header from 15 yards then after superbly beating 2 men, he curled an effort just a little too high and wide. We hoped, we prayed but it wasn't to be.
City were beaten for the first time in 8 months and since Lennie Lawrence arrived at the club, an incredible record. We should all take pride in City's efforts though, we more than did ourselves justice with our display, the home support accepted that too. Equally all Cardiff City fans accepted that Spurs were easily the better team and fully deserved their win, the margin could, maybe should, have been greater than 1-0.
Again, we looked far better than a Division Two team and that's the most crucial and pleasing thing about this season. We came through unscathed and can go to Wigan this weekend full of confidence. Spurs was a nice distraction but Wigan is easily our biggest match this week.
If I had a minor gripe, it was that the players never came o our end and applaud us at the end. They had a huge support who cheered them all the way, was it really too much to have asked of them to come and acknowledge us?
The mass travelling support had more fun and antics with the Met's finest after the match as we were marched chaotically back to the coaches all parked in a school but with officers drafted in, half of them didn't seem to know the right way to it. They were impolite and didn't seem to have much respect for City fans, young and old included. I was glad to get home, even if it wasn't until 3am. We all want Premier football regularly for Cardiff City but if this was a taste of it is like, I'm not relishing it as much as I have in my dreams.
Report from FootyMad
|
The second division outfit created few chances but made their Premier League opponents work hard for their win right up to the final whistle, and could have caused an upset but for the woodwork.
Teddy Sheringham scored the only goal of the game on the half-hour mark but Tottenham should have won by a more comfortable margin.
Spurs had the better of the chances in the first half as they dominated play. Sheringham had already brought a save from Neil Alexander when Cardiff showed the danger they posed on the break as Robert Earnshaw got clear of the defence only to mis-control and allow Kasey Keller to gather the ball.
The woodwork denied both sides a goal just after the quarter-hour mark.
First Sheringham gave Milenko Acimovic a clear sight of goal with a cleverly flicked header from Simon Davies' cross, only for the Slovenian to hit the post with his shot. Almost immediately Cardiff counter-attacked and Willie Boland crashed a shot against the bar from 25 yards with Keller well beaten.
Tottenham responded with a flurry of chances as Acimovic curled a shot wide, then Robbie Keane first saw his header saved and then wasted a good opportunity by dragging a shot wide.
However the pressure was beginning to build and it finally paid dividends for Spurs in the 30th minute when Mauricio Taricco's cross from the right was met by Sheringham arriving at the near post and the Spurs skipper did well to flick his volley past Alexander.
Spurs remained in control in the second half but as they failed to turn their superiority into goals and they were always in danger of being caught by a sucker-punch.
The home side were still wondering how they were not two up after Matthew Etherington's volley from point blank range was blocked when that sucker-punch almost arrived.
The tricky Earnshaw laid the ball back to Graham Kavanagh on the edge of the area and the Cardiff skipper's shot flashed just inches wide of the post.
After that Spurs should have put the game beyond doubt but once again poor finishing let them down. The main culprit was Robbie Keane who failed to control Sheringham's pass when put clean through allowing Alexander to block and then the Irishman had a good shot on the turn saved by the City keeper.
With 14 minutes to go the visitors showed their potential threat once again when Andy Campbell broke clear but dragged his shot wide and then right at the death David Gabbidon made some room for himself in the area before curling an effort just past the upright as Spurs held on for a narrow win.
External reports
The SpursWeb.com
Spurs Odyssey
The Western Mail
BBC Wales (inc audio)