Survivor of the Apocalypse

With all the cancellations of matches that we have been seeing this last week (see last blog for details) I was unsure if I would be able to find a game to go to this weekend. I thought I had found one in Brighton’s WSL visit to non-league Borehamwood FC to play Arsenal, till that game fell to the second wave of the apocalypse. For that game to be ripped out from under me was a huge personal disappointment because I used to go to a lot of Arsenal Women’s games before the pandemic and they were also the only team I was able to go to a match for between the lockdowns last year.

Arsenal are my WSL team and I was looking forward to seeing them beat Brighton and increase their unbeaten record this season, but with that game off the table I was forced to look elsewhere. Luckily the message about the cancellation of the match had been sent to me the evening before the match so I had time to find another match. The match I found was at another non-league Men’s ground, this time Barnet FC which also serves as the home ground for Spurs Women’s team.

That’s right, having originally planned to go to an Arsenal game I crossed the North London divide and went to a Spurs one instead. It would not have been my first choice of game to go to either as even in the Men’s game I prefer Arsenal to Spurs, despite my ex-boss being an Arsenal fan, but with so many others games falling foul of the apocalypse and needing my football fix I decided to head to this one. It was made slightly easier to swallow when I realised that they were playing Everton Women who’s Walton Hall Park ground I had already visited once and having not blogged about that match against another team I dislike (Man U) here was a chance to blog a game of theirs. I couldn’t pass up that opportunity when it had fallen into my lap.

If the Arsenal game had gone ahead as planned I would’ve been watching the league leaders take on 4th place but with that mouth watering encounter now postponed my back up game was 3rd vs 9th. A bit of a step down for sure but I was still determined to enjoy myself and with the other 2 WSL games being in Leicester and Manchester to get my fix I had no other choice

On the plus side though the Hive is certainly easier for me to get to than Borehamwood FC. To get to the Hive all you need to do once you’re in London is get the tube to Cannon’s Street on the Jubilee Line, just one stop from it’s terminus at Stanmore. From that station you simply cross the road turn left and the gate is on your right less than a 2 minute walk away. Go through that gate, you’ll know it when you see it, past the community pitches and a further 2 minutes later you’re at the ground.

I headed straight for the ticket office and picked up my £8 ticket for my seat in the legends stand, the only stand they open up for Women’s matches at the Hive, and made my way around to the other side of the stadium to make my way inside. There was a programme seller right outside the turnstile who I was able to buy a programme from. That’s right without food my whole visit could have cost just £10, not that you can actually spend a tenner here as the whole stadium has gone cashless. Make sure you remember your plastic, the only thing you won’t need it for at the ground is the flags they were giving away for free that I respectfully declined. It wouldn’t have felt right waving a flag for a team I don’t actually support.

Once through the turnstiles I saw how empty the stand was and decided to go and grab a burger before taking a seat. There was no queue so I was able to grab my food and go, if only it had been the same experience at half time. That’s to come though as when I got to my seat there was still half an hour to kick off. To fill this time Spurs had done something I’ve never seen at a football match before, they’d put on pre-match entertainment.

This pre-match show consisted of an MC introducing a freestyle footballer and a female beatboxer. The freestyler did all the tricks that they are known for but the beatboxer was really rather impressive, she even did a little ‘break it down’ section to her beat by holding the mic directly onto her throat, it’s just a shame that the tannoy was blaring out Christmas music over the top of this so it was hard to hear. If you’re going to have pre-match entertainment Spurs at least make sure you give people a chance to enjoy it.

There was then a short break in the show as the teams were announced over the tannoy. The away team was announced first, as normal, by announcing the outfield players in shirt-numerical order (Goalkeeper first obviously) and then the announcer went weird by jumping all over the place with the home team. I’m sure this had some connection to the formation that Spurs were going for, with players announced by position but this made it far more difficult than necessary to work out the starting 11. This kind of all over the place approach may work for those familiar with the team but for casual fans like me it complicates one of the simplest things about football, whose on the pitch.

After that break the pre-match show had a cool ending as two young fans were invited down from the stands to show off their keepy uppy skills and were then taught a freestyle football move and all with a rocking beat box backing track. This is the best thing I’ve seen at a football match, apart from the football at some of them ofcourse, and I hope that this sort of fan engagement is seen at more Women’s matches as it should encourage those fans involved to return and they’ll also spread news of their enjoyable experience to their friends which should help grow the game.

Pre-match show over it was time for the real thing and it was great to see the teams emerge on the opposite side of the stadium and start walking towards us, till they stopped coming our direction once they entered the field of play and lined up with their backs to the fans for the pre-match handshakes. This is one more example of bad planning at a Women’s football game, see ‘Surprise, Women’s football still has a long way to go’ for other examples of how not to engage the supporters. The pre-match rituals all complete the 2 teams took to their feet and they were ready to go.

So here it was my two least favourite teams from my old and new cities playing each other and me here to see them go all out to win from kick off. The teams did not go all out from kick off. They both chose to feel their way into the match instead and whilst that’s certainly the smarter tactical choice it’s not nearly as exciting for the fans. There was no lack of effort from either team in the opening 10 minutes and the visitors asserted their dominance of the ball without finding the quality in the final third to threaten the Spurs goal. Spurs for their part were defending admirably but they had no-one to clear too when they tried to get out of their own half so the ball just kept coming back to them.

Spurs were losing the early battles in midfield and they had clearly identified Lucy Graham as the Everton player who was winning those battles against them as they then proceeded to put a lot of hard tackles in on her in the first 20mins of the match, they settled down on this front after this though even though they were still struggling to assert themselves in the match.

The hosts did get out of their own half after 10 minutes though as they found a clearance to Ria Percival just inside the visitors half. Unfortunately for the hosts there was no support for Percival and with no options around her she dithered on the ball long enough for the Everton right back Danielle Turner to race back and ease her off the ball. It was a great bit of defensive play from Turner whilst also serving notice to Everton that they needed to find some quality in the final third because Spurs could threaten their goal if they wanted.

Everton finally managed a threatening shot in the 13th minute as the ball found its way to Grace Clinton on the edge of her box for her to unleash a powerful shot that had to be deflected over the top. Without that deflection we may have had our first goal of the match, but no luck. Everton then threatened again a minute later when an Izzy Christiansen free kick from 25 yards out on the right was headed back across the 6 yard box. There were 3 unmarked Everton players in that area and all one of them had to do was score the easiest tap-in of their career. None of them could manage it and the ball squirmed out for a goal kick. This really should have been 1-0 to Everton and I’m still trying to work out how they failed to take the lead at this point.

Everton were still in charge in midfield though so they were back on the attack in the 21st minute with a ball in behind Neville on the home right. Once again though they couldn’t find the shot that they needed to find to take the lead. The cross was cut back to the edge of the box and the shot from there lacked any power and simply looped up into the keeper’s arms. This lack of cutting edge for the visitors was on show again 5 minutes later when Toni Duggan found herself with the ball on high on the left hand side, she tied Neville in knots and then she was free in the box. This was when the lack of cutting edge showed up again, she went to chip the keeper and Korpela in the Spurs goal wasn’t having it. She got finger tips too it to claw it over the bar.

Spurs finally escaped their own half again on 30 minutes when they managed to clear the ball and get it to Jessica Naz on the edge of the box and she lets loose a shot that sailed straight into the keeper’s arms. The home side were still yet to truly threaten the Everton goal though and if either team were going to score in this half it looked far more likely to be the visitors.

They nearly managed it in the 32nd minute when there was a pinball in the Spurs box that Clinton managed to free the ball from and let rip with a brilliant shot that looked like it was going in off the post. Korpela came to the hosts rescue again though as she pulled off an incredible diving save to tip the shot round the post and keep the scores level. The resultant corner should’ve seen the visitors lead and it would’ve been the keeper at fault for it. The corner was weak and could easily have been caught, but instead she made the call to punch it clear and that punch landed at the feet of an Everton player on the edge of the box. The resultant shot was blocked though and Spurs were able to break out.

This break though also fell apart when the ball reached Rachel Williams with her back to goal and whilst all the fans could see that there was tons of space for her to run into if she just turned around and went for it she decided not to turn around and instead laid the ball off to the onrushing Neville to her left. The shot that Neville then unleashed lacked any power at all and the ball simply dribbled into the visiting keeper’s arms.

At this point there was a lull in the action on the pitch so my mind turned to the manager’s conundrums and what I would do if I was in each of their positions to give my team the best chance of winning the match.

From a Spurs perspective I felt that they needed a midfielder who could collect the ball from a clearance and then be unafraid to go forward with it, to run at the opposition and take people on. They also needed a striker on the pitch who would occupy the Everton centre backs and look to threaten the penalty area. To my mind the perfect players on the Spurs bench for these roles were Angela Addison and Rosella Ayane respectively.

On the Everton side what they desperately needed was a change in formation to get their most capable finisher, Toni Duggan, in better positions to score. I felt that the best way for them to do this would be to take off Anna Anvegard, who had been the only anonymous Everton player so far, and bring on Hanna Benison in her place. Benison was a summer signing who, from every video I’ve seen of her play, is skilled in finding the right ball through the defence to put it on a plate for the striker. Exactly what Everton needed.

I was brought right back to the game in front of me in the 40th minute though as spurs finally credibly threaten to score. The chance came from a free kick 35 yards out on the Spurs left which found Williams 12 yards out and her powerful header back across the box flashes inches wide of the right hand post.

Spurs had failed to make their presence felt in the half before this point, but they took the momentum from this chance and took control of the game for the final 5 of the 1st half. They had a guilt edged chance to take the lead right before half time when a botched clearance by Bjorn in the centre of Everton’s defence fell to Percival 12 yards out. Unfortunately for the hosts she was unable to sort her feet out and the ball slipped away. This was a huge let off for the visitors but indicative of the match so far, lots of great positions but no finishing touch.

The first half was great on quality play until the ball reached the final third when it all fell apart. I needed food badly though so I headed to the only kiosk and the slowest queue ever. I was in that cue for 25 minutes, which meant I missed the opening to the 2nd half and this was awful for many reasons. Normally when the queue is so dreadfully slow I head back to my seat so as not to miss any of the action, but this time I was just too hungry to walk away from food so I stayed in the queue. The man behind me decided that this was the time to drone on about football statistics and many things about the outside world that I go to football to escape from, also he had the most boring monotone voice imaginable. To add to all this I heard the sound that no-one who can’t see the action wants to hear.

There was a huge cheer from the home fans in the stand, the kind of ecstatic ear-splitting cheer that could only mean one thing. I had missed a goal and apparently it was a really good one too. I found out from fans around me once I retook my seat that the goal was scored from the edge of the box by Spurs’ number 7 Jessica Naz. To miss a goal after all the chances I’d seen missed in the first half was heart-wrenching.

I walked back in to the stand just as Everton smashed the post as they went in search of an equaliser and then as Spurs tried to clear the ball there was a moment you never want to see at a football match.

Josie Green in the Spurs defence had been wearing a black ‘Zorro-style’ mask all match and then the clearance from her teammate and captain Shelina Zadorsky hit her slap bang in the face from just a couple of yards away. The clearance had a lot of power on it and the sound of the impact was like a gunshot. Green went down and the medics rushed over to tend to her. After a little time with the medics and the chance to recover from the impact Green was able to continue with the match. The Spurs manager waited 10 minutes before making the substitution that should’ve happened straight away. Green was taken off to be replaced by Chioma Ubogagu in the 70th minute.

Two minutes before that substitution another Spurs player took a ball to the face as Kerys Harris was hit as she blocked an Izzy Christiansen cross from the right. The ball hit her on the cheek this time though and there was no need for treatment. The ball went out for an Everton corner and Turner attempted to score directly from it. This technique had the keeper beaten, but luckily for Spurs they had a player on the post who was able to clear the ball off the line.

The next action on the pitch was another rifled ball against skin moment. This time it was a clearance from Harris that smashed into the legs of Toni Duggan and out for a throw, this one didn’t seem to have any effect on Duggan though as she shrugged it off and just kept going as the game entered the final 10 minutes.

I had seen precious little goal mouth action myself this half and that drought was destined to continue as the next three things of note were substitutions. First Everton took off Pattinson and replaced her with Galli, then Spurs responded by taking off So-Hyun Cho and bringing on Angela Addison. Then Izzy Christiansen was limping at the far end of the pitch. I didn’t see if this was the result of a tackle or if she became injured with no-one around, but either way it was clear she couldn’t continue and so she was replaced by ex-Arsenal right back Leonie Mayer. In this substitution Everton lost their most influential midfielder and replaced her with a defender. It was at this point that it became crystal clear that this was not going to be Everton’s day.

There was no further goalmouth action in the regulation 90, but there were 8 minutes of injury time at the end of the game and it was here that the goalmouth action returned.

The final chance for Everton to rescue a point from the match came to the feet of Lucy Graham who let fly with a drive from 25 yards that was easily dealt with by Korpela in the Spurs goal. This lack of finishing touch is the main thing Everton need to solve to become a seriously difficult team to beat for the rest of the season.

Spurs then had two almost identical chances to score their second of the match. Both times they got the ball up field on their right and all it required was a quality cross into the sprinting and unmarked Addison in the 6 yard box to tap it in. Both times the final cross was awful and went nowhere near Addison and with these dreadful crosses went my only chance to actually witness a goal first hand in this match.

They were also the final action of the match and I have to accept that the only foal of the match was scored in my absence from the stands. The match ended 1-0 to Spurs and I just have to hope that I’m in my seat when the next goal goes flying in at the next game I’m at.

Before I end this blog, and tell you what that next game is, I would just like to take a quick moment to talk about the Spurs Men’s team on becoming the first English team to have been knocked out of the European Cup, Champions League, UEFA Cup, Europa League, Cup Winner’s Cup, Intertoto Cup and Europa Conference League. That is quite the achievement to qualify for all those competitions over the years and they couldn’t win them every time they qualified for them or at all in the case of some of them.

I will not touch on my opinions on the refereeing decisions in the recent Spurs Men’s game against Liverpool as the responsibility for these decisions rests with the referee’s who made them and they have already been spoken about by many pundits with far greater experience of the game than me.

I may manage another blog before Christmas but only if I’m feeling productive enough to blog my experience at the League Cup quarter final between Brentford and Chelsea tonight on Christmas Eve as I’m busy tomorrow.

Just in case that game falls to the apocalypse too or I use Christmas Eve to do other things I’ll say it now. Merry Christmas one and all and please remember that next year can hardly fail to be an improvement on the last 2, right??