Luck of the Irish....?

Did anyone really think that Shamrock Rovers would challenge Tottenham in this Europa League group match..? Tuning in to the ESPN 'less than average' HD coverage, once I saw the team selection I did have a small concern. Harry obviously had an eye on the upcoming North London Derby match this weekend, but with Defoe coming back and the inclusion of Lennon amongst the younger players, it gave me hope that we could take all 3 points from the Irish part-timers.

The first half was an all-action affair with Spurs well in control. If it had not been for the
Rovers keeper Richard Brush pulling off a great save from Defoe after 17 minutes effort, Danny Rose hitting the woodwork and well saved effort from Dos Santos, we would have surely gone ahead. Roman "The Pudding" Pavlyuchenko was doing everything he could to look as inept as possible, and even the ESPN commentator mentioned 'Banjo' and 'Barn Door' in the same breath.

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I was expecting that fatigue and tiredness would kick-in for the part-timers during the second half, but I was stunned, as was every Spurs supporter at the Lane when Rovers scored just five minutes after the restart in front of their away fans. A fiercely hit free-kick from McCabe was parried by Cudicini, and the ball dropped nicely to Twigg on the edge of the box, and his shot was deflected past the keeper by Rice.

The Rovers dreams lasted all of 10 minutes, before Jimmy Two-Saints, who was having his best game for a long time in a Spurs shirt, whipped in a great cross that even Pavlyuchenko couldn't miss with his head. This was added to only two minutes later when Townsend's cross was sweetly put away by Defoe, and Dos Santos planted a third, five minutes later, after some good approach work by Defoe.

Overall, we cruised past the Irish minnows, much in the way I expected, it's just a shame we had to let in a goal to wake us up. Well will need to do better against Ruban Kazan...

My Player ratings :-

• Cudicini - 7.5 - Not much to do but pick the ball out of the net
• Bassong - 7.0 - Still not looking as good as he did during last season
• Corluka - 7.0 - He maybe slow but he is a gifted right-back
• Walker - 8.0  String showing, excellent marauding runs up front
• Lennon - 5.5 - Looked short of match fitness, still a ways to go
• Townsend  - 8.5 - Changed the game when he came on, great on the wing & laid on a goal
• Rose - 8.0 - Some signs of quality from 'Broadway' Danny Rose, more games needed
• Kane - 6.5 - Didn't add very much when he came on in the last 10 mins
• Livermore - 7.0 - Average performance from the midfielder
• Carroll - 7.5 - Solid game in the middle from our number 46
• Pavlyuchenko - 7.0 - Still a Pudding, even after scoring Spurs opening goal
• Giovani - 8.5 - Given a chance which he took with both hands. Great game for Jimmy
• Defoe - 7.5 - Quick, Strong, lively and on the score sheet
• Falque  - 5.0 - Not enough of a showing