MONDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER, 2000 - FA CARLING PREMIERSHIP

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR   1 - 0   WEST HAM UNITED

Campbell, 67

Attendance:- 33,282

Referee:- Steve Dunn

Spurs (4-3-2-1):- Sullivan; Carr, Young (sub Vega, 49), Campbell (Capt.), Taricco (sub Thatcher, 72); Leonhardsen, Sherwood, Freund; Rebrov, Ferdinand, Iversen

Subs not used:- Walker; Clemence; Etherington                                            Booked:- Freund (Foul)

West Ham(4-4-2):- Hislop; Lomas (Capt.), Ferdinand, Pearce, Winterburn; Sinclair, Cole, Carrick, Lampard; Di Canio,  Kanoute

Subs not used:- Forrest(GK); Peacock, Potts; Moncur; Kitson                   Booked:-Lampard (Foul), Pearce (Foul)

An excellent win with another strong performance in the second half, capped with a fine goal by Sol.  On a very muggy evening a full contingent of our East London cousins made for an excellent atmosphere in the Lane .West Ham started the more fluently with Di Canio enjoying too much space and using the ball very well. Slag me as much as you want, but I would love to see him at Tottenham and he is by far my favourite non Tottenham player in the premiership. West Ham had lots of young talent on display Cole, Carrick, Ferdinand and Lampard and look in a false but amusing position in the Premiership.

Spurs played with a Christmas tree formation with 4-3-2-1, with Iversen and Rebrov playing behind Les. This was a brave and positive strategy by the Goon which did not always pay off mainly because Iversen played like the fairy on top of the tree and we were often 3 against 5 across the midfield, with Sinclair in particular having lots of space against Treacle. But, credit where credit is due, this was a positive move to find Rebrov his best position (although he did not help matters by having an ordinary game)

Spurs played a better first half than against Everton, but still were not fluent and West Ham probably edged the first half. After the break, Young who'd played proficiently in place of the injured? Perry was clattered from behind and had to be taken off. This heralded the return of "Darth" Vega who galloped on to the pitch with all the enthusiasm of a child playing with his newly opened present. Vega as ever was n't foot perfect but played  a very positive game and is useful to have around the squad

Spurs dominated much of the second half and were well worth the goal when it came. Leo swung in a corner and Sol rose majestically to power in a header off the underside of the bar. Sol Campbell - top man

Freund who earlier managed his trademark shot which went miles over (to Graham's utter disgust, which had the crowd laughing) hit a thunderous volley which smacked against the angle of post and crossbar with Hislop beaten. Inept passing at the end managed to give us all heart failure towards the end as Spurs would lose the ball and you'd look at the back to find it was 3 against 3

All in all a good win which puts us in 5th place with another soft 6pts up for grabs in the next fortnight

Sullivan - 7/10 - made some good saves during the early West Ham pressure. Carr - 6/10 - made some uncharacteristic errors but recovered to have a solid game Young - 6/10 - played well although looked to have conceded a penalty with a clumsy challenge at the end of the first half. Injured early in the second and replaced by Vega. Sol - 7/10 - played a fine match and scored the winning goal - a captain's performace. Treacle - 6/10 - offered more in the way off attacking threat than Thatcher, but was often exposed against Sinclair due to lack of cover in the midfield. Injured in the second half and replaced by Thatcher

Leo - 7/10 - a fine match non stop running tackling. Sherwood - 6/10 - a good header and free kick in the first half and drove the team forward, but his passing lacked accuracy Freund - 7/10 - another fine match from Nutter, good tackling and a fine shot which would belatedly opened his account

Iversen - 5/10 - very poor - no commitment, bad passing - he needs to be dropped or bollocked to get him back the player he promised to be this time last year. Rebrov - 6/10 - intelligent passes from a more withdrawn role, but not have the impact of previous matches  Ferdinand - 6/10 - tried hard against his namesake and battled for the cause without ever looking like scoring

Subs.Vega - 6/10 - a Cruff turn in the area and some fine heading mixed up with his usual errors - its difficult not to love him Thatcher - 6/10 - not have much to do, but managed it without any cock ups