Marine (Away) 10.01.2021

With 161 places separating the two teams in league positions, it was the tight Marine Arena ground and bobbly pitch, with a bit of rain in the air and a gusty breeze that made for a leveller between the two teams who are so far apart in the league system.  However, despite a scare at 0-0, Tottenham put in a professional performance to demonstrate the gulf between the two sides without having to risk the top players or to work up too much of a sweat on a freezing cold night.

Spurs took control of the match from the kick-off and enjoyed possession and territorial superiority without causing too much of a threat on the Marine goal. Moura had a good run in the ninth minute finishing with a powerful but wild shot over the bar from the 18-yard line. A couple of free-kicks came to nothing and Dele put a weak shot straight at the keeper.

The need for Spurs to make the most of their chances when Kengni hit a dipping shot that struck the crossbar from 30 yards after initially picking up the ball near the halfway line. Hart had left it initially, thinking it was going over, but then needed to put the ball over the top as it looked as though it might drop back in front of the goal. It was a reminder that there is a fine line between success and failure.

That was proved in the 24th minute, when Tottenham played the ball out from the back  across to the left to Dele. It looked as though he had made himself a shooting opportunity as he drifted inside, but the ball bobbled and he laid it right to Gedson Fernades, took the return and then slipped a pass across the six-yard box. He had spotted Carlos Vinicius running in from behind a Marine defender and although he scuffed his first effort as the keeper dived at his feet, the bounce was kind and he rammed the ball into the net from a few inches out. It was a settler that Spurs needed and Dele’s part in the goal showed he intended to make the most of a rare start in the team.

Five minutes later, Harvey White played a good ball forward to Dele, who came inside to pick out Doherty’s run on the right into the box. He volleyed at goal and Passant made a good save to keep it out, but the ball dropped for Vinicius, who was a bit further out this time, slotting home from two feet out.  The Marine players had failed to be alert to the possibility of a loose ball and the Brazilian centre-forward snaffled a goal with no opposition player near him.

Spurs were in a spell where their quick passing was too much for the non-league outfit and a foul on Lucas gave Tottenham a free-kick just right of centre 22 yards out.  The Brazilian pulled rank on White, who had started out taking the free-kicks and he stepped up to curl it beyond the keeper’s dive to his right to quickly make the score 3-0.

With a shot blocked in the Marine area, the game quickly moved to the Spurs end and Joe Rodon had to make good ground as Joyce was teed up for a shot on target from the left-hand channel about 20 yards out. The Welsh central defender threw a block to keep the ball away from goal, with a perceptive piece of defending. Tottenham more or less had the game wrapped up five minutes before the break, as Dele took a ball on the right side of the area after it had not been fully cleared, playing the ball back for Gedson, whose intended return pass was intercepted, but went to Vinicius a couple of yards inside the penalty area.  Surrounded by gold and black shirts, he took the ball under control and then, as the ball bounced off an incoming tackle, he had time to take a touch and loft the ball gently into the keeper’s top right-hand corner out of his reach for his hat-trick goal.  It was a delicate piece of finishing that put the ball into the net with precision rather than power.

As the game approached half-time, Marine realised that all that was left was to make a name for themselves by taking out a Spurs player or two. Shirt-pulling, rash tackles, straight-arming people off and trying to dig at people once they had gone past them. They had been in the game until the 24th minute, with the thickness of the crossbar preventing them taking the lead, but what they were now demonstrating might reflect the level that they usually play at.

Sissoko and Alderweireld went off at half-time, with Alfie Devine making his first team debut and Japhet Tanganga slotting into defence. Marine brought a forward on for a defender and went four at the back instead of the five they had in the first half. Dele dropped deeper to pull the strings as there was space in midfield, with White getting a heavy blow on his shin when he went into a tackle in front of the benches.

Cummings was starting to get unnecessarily over-physical and when he played the ball, he laid it off on the centre spot for Hmami to run through, but he hurried his shot from 25 yards and it harmlessly crept through to Hart. Moura played a good ball into Carlos and he took the ball down with his back to goal, spinning on it to hit his shot too high.  There was a lot of late stuff going in on Spurs players, but the referee seemed happy to let it go.  Marine had enjoyed some possession at the start of the second half, but as Spurs got hold of it, they stroked it around comfortably on the turf. When Doherty’s cross went over everyone, Ben Davies was alert and played it back in at pace and Moura tried to side-foot his volley at goal, but put the ball wide.

Gedson played a pass to Dele, that was a little short and as he was tackled the ball ran through to Lucas Moura inside the left-hand corner of the box.  He back-heeled it to Alfie Devine, who had run beyond him into the area and the teenager cut inside before drilling a low shot in at the keeper’s near post. It was a brilliant moment for the 16-year old, showing good awareness and good skill to finish with aplomb.

Lucas was terrorising the home defence and his pace took him away from defenders, who had to resort to fouls to stop him. It led to him being substituted and Dele went with him, as Jose brought on Bale and Clarke to try and open up the Marine defence. Bale almost immediately had a free-kick that he dipped over the wall and the keeper scooped the ball away with some difficulty. Clarke took a run at the back four and set up a shot for White, who took it too hurriedly on his wrong foot and skied it.  Oliver finally got his yellow card out when Joyce couldn’t live with Doherty’s pace and dragged him down crudely. It was followed by a blatant body-check on Gedson by Doyle, as the non-league side were run ragged. They did get forward and Rodon made another block from a Kengni effort that should have started a breakaway, but Gedson’s pass was not weighted well enough to find Bale.

In added on time, Bale set Devine away on the right and his square ball was in to Vinicius’ feet, turning on it to fire the ball wide from five yards out.

The second half showed that the quality gap wasn’t just in skill but also in football intelligence.  Marine players showed that losing their discipline in their attempts to strong-arm Tottenham might have been a moral victory with only one goal conceded during the second 45 minutes, but it was mainly due to Spurs easing off and not finishing the opportunities that came their way. It was not something that Marine had to worry about, as Hart had little to think about, other than how he let Kengni’s shot in the first half go.  There were good performances from the young players.  White looked comfortable and withstood some heavy tackles, while Devine showed he has good ability on the ball and the nous to find space off it.  Jack Clarke showed brief glimpses of the running that Spurs signed him for, but didn’t have a lot of time to do so.  Rodon showed some old fashioned “putting his body on the line” to keep out Marine and Gedson showed some good movement and passing amidst rumours he will be returning to Benfica, cutting short his season long loan spell.  Dele put in a good performance that showed that he can run a game, but now he has to take that into Premier League games to prove that he is worthy of a place in the competitive midfield Tottenham now possess.  Vinicius looks like he is becoming our new Fernando Llorente and we know where he took us !

The locals turned out in numbers to see the coach arrive, against the Covid-19 regulations and some of the fans watching the game from the back of their houses were less than 2m away from the players and benches, but it was the sight of a cardboard cut-out Jurgen Klopp viewing the game from behind the fence stopping the ball going into the back yard of someone’s property which was the most unusual.  Surely, if he was spying, it was a case of GardenGate.

Safely through, Spurs retired to the wedding function room and BBC pundit Ian Wright was left to ponder on what he would do with his Marine FC beanie hat that he so wanted to wear with pride when they knocked Tottenham out of the FA Cup.  Having given the eighth tier club advice on how to beat Spurs, it may be a reminder to stick to being in the studio.

Purcell Cole

At the age of 16 years and 163 days, Alfie Devine became the youngest player to play for Tottenham Hotspur and the youngest to score for the club.