Big Steve the last-gasp king of Spotland. . .
Dele makes a meal of his fall, but it’s a penalty
WHATEVER they may do to the FA Cup in future, however they may try to strip it of its relevance and importance, it will always survive because of moments like this.
With 20 seconds remaining of added time, it appeared that Rochdale had seen the story of the game stolen from them and rewritten by Harry Kane.
Back on the ground where he made his professional debut for Leyton Orient seven years ago, the Tottenham striker had scored a late penalty to give his team the lead and seemingly ensure Rochdale’s efforts could be filed in an envelope marked ‘gallant failure’.
There was, however, to be one final twist and that came so late that it was unanswerable.
It arrived from the boot of a journeyman centre forward who has spent his career at places such as Tranmere, Derby, Bristol City and Blackpool. He will no doubt forgive you if you haven’t heard of him.
But thanks to a remarkable bit of composure and technical skill, Steve Davies now has a place in the history of the FA Cup that he can dine out on for years.
This was no punt-and-hope equaliser either. Rochdale had spent the whole afternoon trying to play good football and, despite late Tottenham pressure, had managed to do so.
So when the ball was crossed into the Spurs penalty area in the fourth minute of time added on, it arrived with quality written all over it. Toby Alderweireld could have headed clear but the Tottenham defender had started the game by falling over within 20 seconds and had carried on in that vein. So when the ball skimmed off the Belgian’s head and landed at the feet of Davies, eight thousand Rochdale eyes lit up.
Davies, it must be said, still had much to do. In order to score he had to first control the ball perfectly, which he did with a deft touch of his left foot. Then, with white shirts closing him down, he had to get his shot off quickly and find the only target open to him, low to Michel Vorm’s left.
The fact that he was on as a substitute probably helped him. He had none of the fatigue in his legs that can get in the way. So his low shot turned out to be just as perfect as his control — and that was pretty much that.
Rochdale had the draw their lovely, progressive football deserved and now face a trip to Wembley for a replay that will, at least in part, offset the cost of laying their new surface in advance of this game.
‘The one thing we did say when it dropped to Steve Davies is that he’s gonna score,’ said Rochdale manager Keith Hill. ‘He’s absolutely superb at finishing.
‘It was great to play against a team like Tottenham and try and take them on. We could have been beaten and that was the sacrifice I was willing to make. We had to do it our way and we did.’
With Rochdale bottom of League
One, the odds of an upset appeared pretty low. But Hill had said his team would try to impose their football on Tottenham and they managed it almost from the first whistle.
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino changed his team completely from the one that drew at Juventus in the Champions League last Tuesday and watched as they were outplayed for most of the first half.
The pitch was not perfect. There was the odd moment when it appeared to give way beneath a player’s feet. But it was the same for both teams and, on the whole, it played perfectly well.
Certainly Tottenham couldn’t blame that for their early problems. Pochettino’s players just made too many mistakes and did not seem mentally attuned to the demands of a game such as this.
That did change but not until they were a goal down. Rochdale had created a couple of decent chances early on — one for Ian Henderson and one for Callum Camps. But when Henderson was presented with an opportunity on a plate in the final minute of the opening period, he applied an emphatic finish.
Harry Winks had a poor game in the centre of the Spurs midfield and was not to last the distance. And when he lost possession in the 45th minute, the ball was played wide to Andrew Cannon, who was able to cross low for Henderson to bury it first time, on the run, low to Vorm’s left.
It was a terrific goal by the Rochdale captain and it gave his side a dream to cling to.
At half-time, Hill told his players they would face the challenge of their lives to hang on to their lead — and so it proved.
Spurs dominated the second half and the equaliser arrived on the hour as Lucas Moura ran clear to lift the ball over Josh Lillis.
Then, after Pochettino sent on the cavalry, Kane swept home his penalty after mounting pressure led to Harrison McGahey tripping Dele Alli with just two minutes plus stoppage time to go.
Rochdale goalkeeper Lillis was playing here in January 2011 when Kane came on as an unknown substitute for Orient. So a winner for the England centre forward would have represented a reasonable story in itself.
But this time, there was another final line. And it was a much better one. ROCHDALE (3-5-2): Lillis 7.5; McGahey 7, McNulty 8 (Inman 89min), Delaney 8; Done 7, Kitching 8, Camps 7.5, CANNON 8.5, Rafferty 7.5 (Rathbone 80); Humphrys 8 (Davies 75, 8), Henderson 8. Subs not used: Ntlhe, Thompson, Moore, Adshead. Scorers: Henderson 45, Davies 90+4. Booked: McGahey, Rafferty, Rathbone. Manager: Keith Hill 9. TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-2-3-1): Vorm 6; Trippier 6, Alderweireld 5.5, Foyth 6, Rose 6; Wanyama 6, Winks 5.5 (Lamela 61, 6); Moura 7 (Alli 70, 6), Sissoko 6, Son 6; Llorente 5.5 (Kane 75, 6). Subs not used: Gazzaniga, Sanchez, Dier, Walker-Peters. Scorers: Moura 59, Kane 88 pen. Booked: Alderweireld. Manager: Mauricio Pochettino 6.5. Referee: Bobby Madley 7. Attendance: 8,480.