TRAVELLERS TALES 44
By Brian Buck
209th game of the season. (Match 11,812) Saturday 16th January 2016. Tottenham
Hotspur 4 Sunderland 1 (Barclays Premier League) (12.45pm kick off) att 35,854.
Today would have been yet another problem Saturday, had Spurs not been at home
today, as by now the reason for many recent postponements had now changed from
waterlogged pitches to frozen ones. However I got away with it and both my first choice
matches got played. Spurs was never going to be off of course, but I might have had a
travel problem though, as trains north of Cheshunt were replaced by buses due to
engineering works. But I was unaffected by this and whilst waiting for my train I was
even handed a voucher which enabled me to have a free cup of coffee while I was
waiting for my train to appear! As for the match Spurs despite the scoreline Spurs didn’t
play that well, especially in the first half. Fat Sam had organised Sunderland well and
for the most part they easily snuffed out Spurs few attacks and they lacked of creativity.
However they were still the better side in terms of possession, 67% in this game, so it
was a bit of a surprise when the visitors took the lead on 40 minutes, caused by a mix
up of marking responsibilities between Trippier and Alli. But within two minutes Spurs
were level. The ball fell to Eriksen and his shot, possibly slightly mishit, found
Cattermole standing on the line. He miscontrolled the ball and it went of him into the
net. After the break Spurs were much improved and on 59 minutes, Dembele, Spurs
best player, once again, found some space to fire home just inside the right hand post.
On 67 minutes Eriksen ‘scored’ again after his shot went in after taking a deflection off
of a defender who turned his back on the ball. On 79 minutes the same defender took
out Rose in full flight and Kane rammed home the spot kick. Good to see Spurs beat a
poor side, even if they directly contributed to three of their goals!
210. (11,813) Saturday 16th January 2016. Cheshunt 3 Thurrock 0 (Ryman League
Division 1 North) (3pm kick off) att 247. After the Spurs match I hotfooted to
Cheshunt, where I actually saw the start of the game! The Spurs match finished at
2.35pm. I ran/walked to Northumberland Park station and just managed to catch the
2.43pm train. I was in my car, parked close to Cheshunt Station by 2.55pm and I
arrived at the ground at 3pm, just as the teams were coming out and were being
announced. I had a quick ‘jimmy’ while they were doing the ‘Respect’ bit and the game
kicked off three minutes late. Cheshunt were in fine form today, although I didn’t think
too much of the four hard tackles they put in during the first 20 minutes, the last of
which drew the first booking of the match. On 28 minutes they took the lead when the
visiting keeper went AWOL, coming for a ball he couldn’t get to and the scorer was left
with an open goal to aim at, although he delayed his shot and was forced a bit wide
before he pulled the trigger. He also scored the second goal on 52 minutes when he
followed up a shot which hit the crossbar and again scored from a narrow angle. The
third goal came five minutes later, set up by the same scorer who played in his mate
who smashed home the ball from close range with a high shot. This was a good win for
my old club (1964-1986) and it was also good to see so much enthusiasm about the
place, both on and off the pitch. A club in harmony and progressing well in their
updated facilities.
211. (11,814) Monday 18th January 2016. Tottenham Hotspur 2 Manchester City 2
(Barclays Under 21 Premier League Division 1) (Played at Tottenham Hotspur
Training Centre, Hotspur Way, Bulls Cross) (1pm kick off) att 90 approx. This
match got switched from Stevenage to the training ground late afternoon or early
evening on the previous day and presented either Spurs or Stevenage with some
problems, as tickets for the match had been sold on the assumption that the game
would be played at Stevenage, whereas it’s free admission at the training ground. So
they had to sort out some refunds! This was a bitterly cold afternoon and although I had
plenty of layers on I still felt cold inside. But the game was a good one and the pace
never let up. City had a more physical approach and weren’t afraid to put in some
dodgy tackles from time to time, particularly when Townsend was in possession of the
ball. It was they who took the lead on 14 minutes. A cross from the left took a
goalwards deflection off a Spurs player. A City player stuck out a foot and the ball went
in. They were the better side at this point, but on 32 minutes Coulthirst received the ball
with his back to goal on the edge of the area, turned and hit it home for the equaliser.
Three minutes later Spurs were in the lead when a cross from the right eluded
everyone apart from Sonupe, who shot home from 15 yards. Spurs were then in the
ascendancy, but on 45(+1) minutes City suddenly equalised. In the second half and in
terms of chances created City, were the better side. But Spurs went looking for the
winner towards the end and with a bit of luck they might have got it. After the final
whistle and as I walked past the perennial attendee here, David Pleat, looking as cold
as I was, he exclaimed, “That was a game and a half!”
212. (11,815) Monday 18th January 2016. Hitchin Town 1 Cheshunt 0 (Herts Senior
Cup Quarter Final) (7.45pm kick off) att 101. The weather was still very cold for my
evening game, but at least I had the luxury of being able to sit down under cover.
Furthermore there are carpets cut offs available here, so your bum doesn’t get cold.
Hitchin are having a good season and at the time of writing are in the play off positions.
But recently they had been rocked by the fact that two of their better players had
decided to go travelling for three months. Whether manager Mark Burke will welcome
them back into the club when they return is unclear. There are players waiting in the
wings who rarely play, but will now, so if they do well the absent players might find
themselves persona non grata on their return! Tonight Hitchin struggled to break down
a well organised visiting side. In the first half they had loads of possession, but weren’t
creative enough. However after the break they pushed more men forward and had
greater variation in their play. On 56 minutes they scored the only goal of the game
when Kirkpatrick saw the keeper too far off his line and clipped it over him from the
edge of the area as he advanced towards him. Cheshunt were quite capable of scoring
after this and with the pitch starting to crisp up there were fears that the game might go
into extra time, but really it fizzled out and I suspect the players want to get back in the
warm as much as the crowd did!
213. (11,816) Tuesday 19th January 2016. Stevenage 2 Barnet 7 (Football League
Youth Alliance South East Division) (Played at The Football Akademy, Broadhall
Way, Stevenage) (11.30am kick off) att 10 approx. This match was originally down to
be played the Shephallbury Sports Academy, with an 11am kick off, but with the
overnight frost still in the ground the decision was taken to switch the game to this 3G
pitch across the road from the main ground. I’d seen a game here once before, but on
the occasion we were denied access to the cage. Today there was no problem. A
reason for this might have been that next to the pitch is a ‘Special Needs’ school and
so spectators, such as there were might have been confused with some of the
attendees who came out to watch. They applauded at half time and at the end one of
them asked if the game had finished. When they found out that it had they seemed
happy. Perhaps they wanted to use it! So if you meet someone who spells Academy
wrongly it’s a fair bet they went to this school! As for the match Barnet surpassed
themselves and scored five times in the opening 26 minutes. Everything they tried
came off, leaving the 12 Stevenage coaches I counted looking rather stunned. An
unlikely comeback was on the cards for a while, as Stevenage pulled goals back on 39
and 54 minutes. But it didn’t last long and further Barnet goals on 69 and 86 minutes
completed the rout. I had to wait ages to get the names of the hosts goalscorers,
afterwards, succeeding only after one of the coaches broke away from the post match
discussion which for all I know might still be going on now!