Tottenham News: Spurs 2-1 Leeds: Jolyon reports

By Jolyon
August 24 2003

To be honest this match was so exciting, the atmosphere so electric that the only clear memory I really have is of the shaking of my hands as the adranalin coursed through my veins and the sweat poured from my brow.

The match itself I remember like a porn film on fast forward - a blur of faces contorted in the extremes of effort and joy, a series of limbs flung and twisted to the limits of human elasticity and a lot of slick balls.

The weather was warm, the crowd were in good spirits, and the team started brightly. And within minutes it had gone wrong - an unthreatening bit of piddling around and the ball found its way to Smith - to my concern there was a direct line though the end of his foot, the middle of the ball, the corner of the net and my despairing eyes. At no point did it look like Keller's hand would cross this line before the ball was past and so it proved.

Cue Leeds' celebrations and the Spurs crowd getting on the back of the team. Except they didn't. The Leeds fans crowed alright but the cockerel crowed back - like Birmingham last season when we went a goal up against them, the Spurs fans faced this temporary setback with a barrage of chanting and cheering - had it been half an hour later it might well have been the ranting and jeering we heard last season but today the positive mood was only dimmed briefly before flaring brighter than before.

From this point, four minutes in, until four minutes from the end the team was like the hero of a Hollywood blockbuster. There was action galore, there were ups and downs, there were near misses and disappointments but there was never a doubt that by the time the credits rolled we were going to get the girl and kill the baddie.

Like the moment in the horror movie where the girl you thought was down and out rescues the star by blowing the brains out of the zombie death machine with a colt 45 and a broken flymo, it was beginning to look like all our efforts had been in vain when the first push towards salvation came from the unlikliest source; Zamora looked to have been beaten by the pace of the ball and the charge of the foe but he managed to stretch out and poke a pass across the field to Taricco who had been the focus of our attacking thrusts for much of the first half. As he will always do Tano came inside from the left flank, then he came further, a couple of hesitant touches took him past a couple of Leeds players, on a line with the left post and then in a move that would have astonished the entire stadium had he not had a decent crack at goal early on in the game, the much maligned Argentinian genius let fly a curving that was heading well over the bar, then was heading right at the bar and finally just dipped enough to clear the underside of the bar and the top of Robinson's outstretched hand to send the crowd wild and the team in at half time on level terms with the momentum in our favour.

In the second half even an injury to Zamora didn't slow us down, we just picked ourselves up, tied a blue band round our head, grabed the still smoking AK47 from our fallen comrade and blasted our way through the enemy lines with a deadly eye and uncanny accuracy. It was the right time for Kanoute, a surprise bench warmer, to come on - enough time left to make a case for himself but not so long that he had to hold himself back to keep himself safe. The reception was positive - as was every breath of air from the massed Spurs ranks - but noone really knew what to expect - certainly I doubt anyone expected the man who was later described in the Northumberland Arms as a gliding God.

A big man but an elegant player Freddie slotted in seamlessly - favouring the left side of the goal but perfectly happy to play the target man on the right at throw ins and able to get the ball from the corner of the pitch to the middle with the minimum of fuss.

And then the moment that ensures that Kan the Man will always have his supporters at the Lane however his career proceeds from now; he received a slightly less than perfect clearance with his back to goal, he controlled the ball, tapping it up in the air to kep in within his sphere of influence and then like a highlight from the best of 1990s Serie A or a similarly unattainable Valhalla of footballing skill he dropped and pivoted and caught the ball perfectly on the volley - a piece of skill to draw cheers from the Blue and White Army even if it hadn't flown from the toe of his boot to the back of their net.

We were ahead and Leeds heads were bowed. They had battled hard all game but in the maner of the evil masterminds henchmen - with lesser weapons and no real hope of survival. Still there must be a moment of tension at the end of any good action feature. Like Freddie Kruger only uglier and without the stripey shirt, Leeds looked like they would never lie down and die like a decent defeated undead villain should - they managed one last lunge at the end, grabbed our ankles and for a moment hearts were in mouths and lunches were making a return journey to join them but this was just the standard script - the action has to last for ninety minutes and like true entertainers Spurs hammed up the last few moments of drama before taking a deserved bow. Leeds were defeated, we weren't going to throw it all away right at the death and we strolled off into the sunset with three points in the bag and the beer chilling waiting for our return.

It wasn't the best film I've ever seen but one of the most exciting and a great one to see with a group of like-minded friends. If they can keep churning these out they'll become cult classics and I for one will be buying the DVDs.

Come on you Spurs!

Cast: (In alphabetical order)

Stevie Carr - warrior returned from dead
Simon Davies - Wayward finisher #1 / tireless runner
Anthony Gardner - rock #1
Freddie Kanoute - Kan he kick it? - yes he Kan.
Kasey Keller - untroubled keeper / bloke at the start who maybe might have done better
Ledley King - rock #2
Dean Marney - Solid prospect
Helder Postiga - Wayward finisher #2 / padawan Jedi
Jamie Redknapp - midfield general with lovely wife
Dean Richards - rock #3
Rohan Ricketts - dedicated and skillful convert from the dark side
Mauricio Taricco - South American goal genius
Bobby Zamora - Surprisingly good passer / injured hero

Special guest star

Glenn Hoddle - fing relieved manager