Spurs’ late slip is a Hammer blow
THE battle for Champions League qualification took another twist last night as West Ham scored in stoppage time to dent Tottenham’s hopes of finishing third.
Kate Longhurst, a lifelong West Ham fan, grabbed the equaliser in the 92nd minute when the game looked beyond her side. The Hammers, down to 10 players for most of the second half, had not had a shot on target before the defender met Dagny Brynjarsdottir’s cross to head over Tottenham goalkeeper Becky Spencer.
The goal salvaged a point for West Ham and saw Spurs drop from second to fourth. Manchester United are now third on goal difference while in-form Manchester City are just two points behind. It makes Spurs’ clash with United at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday even more crucial.
It is refreshing to see the WSL wide open at the halfway stage, with everything still to play for at the top and the bottom.
Tottenham were made to pay for not putting this game to bed. They could have had two or three more goals after Rosella Ayane’s 54th-minute penalty but their careless finishing was punished.
‘We had a lot of chances we could have taken,’ admitted head coach Rehanne Skinner. ‘We dominated the game but if you don’t finish off those opportunities, you leave yourself open to a mistake at the back.’
There was little that was pretty about this contest and the state of the pitch at the Hive was heavily criticised by West Ham boss Olli Harder before kick-off.
Harder insisted the surface was not up to WSL standard and compared it to Hackney Marshes. Spurs share the ground with National League side Barnet, who had hosted Chesterfield 24 hours earlier. Conditions at the Hive were poor and the pitch only got worse as rain continued to fall.
Ayane had the best chance of the first half when the Spurs forward was played through by Jiali Tang in the third minute, but Hammers goalkeeper Anna Leat spread herself well to make a big save.
Ashleigh Neville flashed a volley wide on the half-hour before Grace Fisk sent an effort over the bar before half-time.
The breakthrough for Spurs came shortly after the restart when Tang drew Hawa Cissoko into a clumsy tackle. Referee Amy Fearn pointed to the spot and Ayane placed the ball into the bottom left corner.
Spurs felt aggrieved that Cissoko was not sent off for the foul, given she had been booked in the first half. But the defender was not on the pitch for much longer. Cissoko was penalised for yet another foul but it was her petulance in kicking the ball away that saw her pick up a second booking.
Neville came close to making it 2-0 when she fizzed a shot across goal but her effort was blocked on the line by Lucy Parker. Tang should have doubled Spurs’ lead in the 79th minute when she was sent through on goal but Leat kept her side in the game. And her saves proved vital when Longhurst got above Shelina Zadorsky to head past Spencer to nick West Ham a point.
‘The resilience to stay in the game was very pleasing, but the performance was nowhere near where it needs to be,’ said Harder. ‘We were awful today.’ TOTTENHAM (4-3-3): Spencer; Zadorsky, Harrop, Bartrip, Neville; Clemaron (Williams 46min), Percival, Green; Tang, Naz (Addison 71), Ayane (Ubogagu 78). Booked: Clemaron, Zadorsky. Scorer: Ayane 54 (pen). Manager: Rehanne Skinner. WEST HAM (5-3-2): Leat; Stringer (Wyne 46), Fisk, Flaherty, Cissoko, Longhurst; Evans, Svitkova, Snerle (Parker 67); Walker (Filis 85), Brynjarsdottir. Booked: Stringer, Cissoko, Snerle. Sent off: Cissoko. Scorer: Longhurst 90+2. Manager: Olli Harder. Referee: Amy Fearn. Attendance: 678.