Spurs win away!

Spurs dispatched Portsmouth 2-0 in a tricky away game today in lousy conditions. An own goal from Andy O'Brian and a second from Jermaine Defoe ensured we made the perfect start to the season and win our first away game of 2005.

We started well but Portsmouth worked themselves into the game well and looked the better side. Towards the end of the half they had 71% of possession and Lua Lua was causing us a lot of problems. Anthony Gardner went back to his shaky looking ways but Dawson was solid.

What was a little worrying was the way Portsmouth swept through our midfield time and time again and they will need to tighten up for next week if we are to continue our bright start. Just as it looked like we were going to go in at 0-0 Mido and Defoe combined well leaving Andy Griffin to slide in before Mido could reach it.

Portsmouth started the second half well and continued to push on forcing two corners. However we worked our way back into the game as the midfield started to improve. Our second goal came as Mido played a hopeful ball down the left flank. Westerveld came off his line but the pace of Defoe allowed him to reach it before he did. From a tight angle, on the turn, Defoe was able to fire the ball into an empty net. The second goal was very important as the Portsmouth heads dropped and thus the pressure we were under was less. Jol is always saying how important the second goal is and that we have to kill teams off and we did that today.

The one worrying aspect of the game was how poor Routledge looked. In the most important season for years we cannot afford to carry a player and hopefully this was just a one off and his performance will be better next week.

Anyone who remembers being played off the pitch on Boxing Day with Pleat looking bemused realises what a good result this is. We played at only an average level but still went away with two goals and all three points.

COYS!