Grays Athletic 2 Tottenham Hotspur X1 3 (Pre-Season Friendly)
Tue, August 7, 2007. Kick off: 7:45 PM
Match Report by Martin Candler
In a fast, furious and sometimes feisty encounter at the New Rec, the Blues emerged with considerable credit against a strong Spurs outfit. A red card for Karl Murray, a ‘frank exchange of views’ between skipper Jamie Stuart and Ernie Cooksey and a spikey showing from the opposition gave the bumper crowd plenty to talk about after the game. Grays began the half a little apprehensively with Jack Haverson getting a start in defence in the absence of Simon Downer and Jon Ashton and Danny Kedwell and Aaron O‘Connor on the bench.
Spurs took the lead in the 6th minute with a simple goal, defender Lee Mills heading home a corner with the home defence all at sea. With Tom Huddlestone, debutant Kevin Prince-Boateng and Adel Taarabt dominating mid-field, home fans feared the worst. However, slowly the Blues began to find their feet and, with Charley Hearn, Dennis Oli and Ben Watson prominent, the game became more even. Out on the left, Mark Marshall‘s extreme pace drew three fouls in quick succession from Spurs defenders, all on the edge of the box; justice was done when, from one of the resultant free-kicks, Watson stabbed in a deserved equaliser in the 22nd minute.
In the second half, Jon Ashton replaced the fired-up Stuart and in the 56th minute Spurs were ahead; a quick break catching out the Grays defence for Andy Barcham to score. Worse was to follow for Grays fans when Murray was sent off for an alleged stamp on Huddlestone. Spurs piled on the pressure with their neat, flowing style and in the 65th minute, the impressive Taarabt scored with a rasping shot from the edge of the area.
Justin Edinburgh responded by making several changes to the line-up and to their credit the Blues rose to the challenge of going down to 10 men by taking the game to Spurs. After some spirited attacking, the homesters reduced the arrears in the 87th minute with a well-crafted second goal. The ball was moved sweetly out of defence on to the elusive James Lawson who set Danny Kedwell free on the right with a penetrating pass and from his whipped-in cross there was Aaron O‘Connor to finish with a brave final touch.
Even a sustained downpour could not dampen the spirits of the Grays faithful who, it must be said, witnessed a performance of great heart and no little skill from their team; qualities they will need in abundance in the coming campaign
Grays Athletic: Knowles, Sambrook, Stuart (Ashton, 46), Oli, McAllister (O'Connor, 75), Murray, Hearn (Day, 71), Watson (Kedwell, 75), Cooksey (Gross, 64), Marshall(Lawson), Haverson.
Subs not used: Flitney, Lawson.
Spurs XI: Forecast, Riley, Berchiche, Huddlestone, Ifil, Mills, Routledge (Barcham, 46), Boateng (Maghoma, 57), Barnard, O'Hara, Taarabt. Subs: Butcher, Casey, McKenna, Livermore.
Grays Goalscorers: Watson(23), O'Connor(87)
Spurs Goalscorers: Mills(5), Boateng(53), Taarabt(67)
Booked: Hearn
Sent Off: Murray(57)
Ref: J. Hopkin
Attn: 2216
Matchday Picture Courtesy of Spencer Jarvis - Thurrcok Gazette
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