WEMBLEY WOE FOR AMOND:

There was no joy for Carlow’s Padraig Amond last night as he and his Newport County team-mates suffered a 2-0 FA Cup fourth round replay defeat to Tottenham – our picture shows Amond battling for possession with Tottenham’s Juan Foyth (right).

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR cruised into the FA Cup fifth round by dispatching fourth-tier Newport County in a replay with a largely second-string side.

Tottenham, who had needed a late Harry Kane goal to force a 1-1 draw in the first game, were never troubled at Wembley, progressing thanks to an own goal from Dan Butler before Erik Lamela doubled the lead.

There was no place in the Tottenham line-up for top scorer Kane, who was missing along with a host of other first-team players, as Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino rang the changes with one eye on Saturday’s Premier League derby against Arsenal.

The hosts were in cruise control after 26 minutes, however, when Moussa Sissoko’s drilled cross deflected cruelly off Butler’s heel and wrong-footed goalkeeper Joe Day on its way into the Newport net.

The lead was doubled eight minutes later when Lamela scored his first Tottenham goal since September, 2016, the Argentine showing quick feet before slipping his finish through the legs of Day having been played in by Son Heung-min.

Tottenham, who missed several chances in the second half with Fernando Llorente, substitute Dele Alli and Lamela guilty of wasting opportunities, will travel to third-tier Rochdale in the last 16.

Alli hit the crossbar when clean through but Llorente’s inability to convert two glorious chances will have been the only blot on the copybook with the over-reliance on Kane still potentially an issue as they head into the business end of the season.

At the other end, Carlow’s Padraig Amond missed Newport’s best chance of the night in injury time when his effort was saved by Tottenham stand-in stopper Michel Vorm to deny the League Two side and their 7,500 fans a consolation goal.