Spurs kicked off their pre-season campaign with a bang, as O`Hara, Lennon, and Bent all found the back of the net in their 3-0 victory. Harry started a select bunch comprised of Carlo Cudicini; Alan Hutton, Pascal Chimbonda, Vedran Čorluka, Dorian Dervite; David Bentley, Tom Huddlestone, Danny Rose, Jamie O`Hara,; Jermaine Defoe, and Robbie Keane.
It was only 5 minutes into the match when Bentley tested out the Exeter City keeper, Jones, who did well to re-direct the header away from goal. Both sides were trying their luck in front of goal, no one having any break-through until the 31st minute. Then Jamie O`Hara was there to catch the re-bound of a shot from Robbie Keane, scoring the first goal of the night. Spurs had a few more goes at Jones before the whistle signaled half-time.
At this time, Harry swapped the whole squad out giving everyone a chance to get a foot on the ball. This time he put in the likes of David Button; Chris Gunter, Benoit Assou-Ekkoto, Jake Livermore, Micheal Dawson; Aaron Lennon, Wilson Palacios, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Luka Modrić; Darren Bent, and Roman Pavlyuchenko. Almost immediately after the kick-off, a corner from Modrić found Dawson but unluckily hit the foot of the post. Spurs, pushing their luck once more, forced 5 more saves from Jones before Exeter found their feet and had a go themselves; but unfortunately didn’t manage to find the net. Spurs had another breathtaking chance and Pavlyuchenko hit the woodwork as Dawson had earlier. Merely seconds later, on the re-bound, Luka Modrić had a spark of brilliance and cut the ball in for Lennon to bag their second goal. The 80th minute marked Spurs third goal of the evening, as Pavlyuchenko let out a mighty strike and Bent was there to see it into the goal as Jones spilled the ball yet again.
After the match, Kevin Bond expressed his happiness with their first dive back into football. He said, “I thought it was a really good night for everyone. It was a full turnout of supporters, a lovely evening, the pitch was great and we managed to get 45 minutes out of everybody with no injuries. I thought along the way we played some great stuff.”
So with all of that said, it’s back to the training pitch and after this exciting opening pre-season match, the Spurs lads should be eager for their next friendly this Friday with Bournemouth.
Jill Guthrie
