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Wednesday 19th September 2001, 7.45pm		FA PREMIERSHIP, Stadium of Light
SUNDERLAND 1 (Phillips 78)
Macho; Haas, Craddock, McCartney (sub Williams, 56), Gray (Capt); Arca, McCann, Schwarz , Kilbane (sub Laslandes, 77); Quinn, Phillips Subs not used:- Kennedy, Thirlwell, Bellion
Sheringham 1 (51)		Ferdinand (Rebrov 68)
Poyet	Anderton (Leo 82)	Freund	Davies
Taricco	Perry	King	Ziege 1 (26)
Sullivan
Subs not used: Keller,
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2 (Ziege 26, Sheringham 51)
Referee:- Durkin		Attendance:- 47,310

A great night for Spurs we continue our fantastic run against Sunderland on a cold wet evening on Wearside. In the wake of the recent injuries, Hoddle switched to a 4-4-2 formation. Poyet coming in for the injured Bunjevcevic was the only change in personnel, but Ziege dropped to left back, while Davies and Poyet played wide midfield positions on the left and right respectively.

Travelling out of Kings Cross always offers the opportunity to give the finger to the Arsenal ground on the way by, and now you can also do it to Ashburton Grove. An extra few minutes at Kings Cross also allowed me to move copies of Poyet on the front of Spurs monthly in front of the Arsenal and Chelsea equivalents, as well as hiding Wenger’s book. Every little bit helps Spurs get back to the top, so don’t forget to do your bit.

Pre-match we met up with some Spurs students studying at the University, only for one of them Tony Marco to be from the road next to mine back in my native Burnt Oak. TOPSPURS wishes them all the best in their studies, and hopes Spurs have a good few wins against Sunderland Newcastle and Boro during their time in the North East. We were treated to a Laurel and Hardy performance from Meatloaf and Tony Slatz who broke down 30 miles from Sunderland and had a mad dash to the ground, once their car was fixed. Their car nightmare continued after the match when they took the wrong turning coming out of Sunderland and started to head towards Newcastle (thinking South Shields was South!) before breaking down again 5 miles from home and not getting in til 4 in the morning.

The stadium of light is built on an old mining area, and got its name “allegedly” from a shaft of light or something relating to the pit when the ground was being built – still sounds like a blatant rip off of Benfica’s “estadio de luz” to me. This was also the excuse to have a laser show above the stadium before the match as the supporters streamed over the bridge over the Wear River.

Sunderland, who had won their two other home matches 1-0 started brightly and had the first attempt on goal when Arca’s volley was routinely tipped over by Sully. Spurs started brightly. The passing was crisp, the movement sublime and with Sheringham, Davies, Anderton, Ferdinand and Ziege all prominent, chances were created.

The first attempt on goal came from Poyet, but his effort was closer to the corner flag. He nearly made up for this moments later when just failing to divert Ziege’s excellent cross home, after a late run into the box. Spurs ran the show. Ferdinand got free down the right, but Sunderland back line managed to clear his dangerous cross. Anderton who was having another decent match in midfield had a long range shot deflected wide. At the other end Phillips had a shot wide after his initial free kick was blocked.

A classic piece of “after you Claude” occurred when excellent interplay between Sheringham and Ferdinand had the Sunderland defenders chasing shadows, and even though they advanced the move into the box, neither managed a shot on target. Sheringham, buoyed by his goals against Chelsea was looking the more dangerous and had a header blocked soon after.

Not for the first time this season, Spurs were running the game – but as the one win in 5 before this match also showed – it means nothing unless you convert the good play to goals. Fortunately for us, Spurs were given the lead in bizarre circumstances. Spurs worked the ball across to Ziege on the left touchline 10 yards inside the Sunderland half. He sent over a curling long ball intended for Ferdinand, but from out positions at the other end of the pitch you could see that the keeper’s attempt for the ball was all wrong quite early on and initially you hoped Les would be able to nod home into an empty net before realising that the ball was beyond both of them and destined for the top corner. Ziege walked away almost embarrassed as the keeper, and Freund was the first to congratulate him – running over to him and then just running into him as only Freund can do!

The goal however fortunate reflected the play. We could have gone further ahead through Poyet and Ferdinand, while Anderton had another long-range effort that was n’t far over and we looked dangerous every time we had the ball.

At halftime the general consensus was that one goal was not enough to win the match, and that Sunderland could not be as ineffective in the second period. Half time also allowed me to meet topspurs regular Gordon Lynn.

Worries of a Sunderland comeback were soon put on hold as both teams began where they left off. Spurs running the midfield and Sheringham and Ferdinand causing the Sunderland defence all sorts of problems, and Ferdinand should have done better when shooting straight at Macho.

Sometimes you pray for a goal that never comes, but this time the good lord was alert and provided out second goal right on cue. Anderton played a long ball, which Ferdinand managed to flick into the path of the on rushing Davies into the left hand edge of the box. Davies had time to pick out Sheringham who for once chose brute strength over placement, thumping a header close to Macho in the Sunderland goal from 7 yards, but the keeper could do nothing more than deflect the ball into the top corner. Ecstasy on the terraces – 2-0 and cruising away at Sunderland.

We’ve heard a lot about the atmosphere in the stadium, but it was pretty quite apart from the 1500 spurs fans who’d made the journey and were in good voice – “Glenn Hoddle's blue and white army” along with the “you can stick Rsol Campbell up your arse/We’ve got Ledley at the back” being the favourites. The football authorities could use a bit of common sense when arranging these matches. A midweek away match 250 miles from home when there were no trains back to London after this match is not something they would do if they gave a shit about the fans is it!

Reidy had to do something to try and change things for Sunderland and a couple of substitutions on the hour seemed to bring them more in the game, with Sully having to pull off a couple of reasonable saves, although Spurs were still in the ascendancy. Spurs replaced Ferdinand with Rebrov, which seemed a popular move with the majority of the Spurs fans, although Les did his bit for Spurs.

Sunderland began to pile on the pressure, but King and Perry stood firm at the back until with 12 minutes to go a long throw from the Sunderland right was flicked on and Phillips nipped in and cracked and unstoppable half volley into the corner giving Sully no chance from around the penalty spot area.

Panic set in, and an organised withdrawal to hold on to a 2-0 lead became wholesale retreat to hang on to a game Spurs dominated. Sunderland piled it on and the famous atmosphere of the stadium was to be heard for the first time. Everybody did their bit for Spurs – King and Perry were excellent and even the likes of Ziege, Davies and Poyet were mucking in with blocks and tackles as Spurs held on.

Somehow they managed to find 4 minutes of stoppage time from somewhere and there was one last scare when a cross from the by-line was intercepted by Sully on to Perry and as the ball ran agonisingly towards the goal at the far end of the pitch, Mr Ed was at his best to scramble back and clear it off the line. There was even time for a penalty appeal when a cross struck Ziege’s arm, and although they have been given, we deserved our bit of luck by the way we played for the majority of the match (and some of the refereeing shockers we have had this season already).

Finally Durkin blew and the relieved Spurs fans could celebrate another win at Sunderland (Only the Goonersaurus, playing Vega as a striker has managed to get Spurs beaten up here for 20 years).

With the late kick off for TV, the race was on to find a pub to celebrate the win. We found a cracker and enjoyed the craic with the Mackems who were good lads. One bloke started a conversation with me “that George Graham, he was never given a chance and was never accepted because he was Arsenal”!!! …… 5 minutes later with burning ears he realised that the Goonersaurus was scum that was holding us back and that Spurs are very much united behind the new regime.

This is Hoddle's Tottenham – going away to a top 7 side, playing good football and winning – and we want more of it. Come on you Spurs!

Ps - To round it all off – the local North East paper started their match report “Chas & Dave, that chirpy musical pair renowned for their love of all things from White Hart Lane have a word which perfectly sums up this kind of result. Gertcha!” – Bless em! 

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Sullivan (7/10) – His best display of the season with crucial saves in the last period of the match when Spurs were under pressure

Taricco (7/10) – Excellent going forward in the first period and did his bit defensively

Perry (7/10) – A good match for Mr Ed when the emphasis was on defending

King (7/10) – A towering display at the back again, giving Quinn and Phillips nothing

Ziege (7/10) – Scored the opener and slotted in well as an emergency left back

Davies (7/10) – Played left midfield while he did not have his most productive match, did a good job for the team

Anderton (7/10) – Did well in the first half but was less of an influence in the second

Freund (7/10) – Helped Anderton control the midfield in the first period and was there at the death helping to preserve the lead

Poyet (7/10) – Played his part – effective when we dominated in the first half and got involved at the end

Sheringham (7/10) – The class act who made everything tick for Spurs and ended up scoring the winning goal

Ferdinand (7/10) – Played well and gave Sunderland plenty of problems before being replaced by Rebrov

Subs:

Rebrov (6/10) – Again given 20 minutes at the end but did not do much and was not able to hold the ball up to relieve pressure on the Spurs defenders in the closing stages

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