Sunday 17th February 2002, 4.00pm

FA Cup, 5th Round, WHITE HART LANE

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 4 (Ziege 8, Poyet (2)35, 90, Sheringham 64)

Sullivan
Perry
Richards
Thatcher
Taricco
Davies
Poyet
Sherwood
Ziege
(Etherington 87)
Ferdinand (Iversen 75)
Sheringham

Subs not used: Keller, Leonhardsen, Thelwell

TRANMERE ROVERS 0

Achterberg , Allen , Hill , Sharps , Roberts , Henry (Mellon 71) , Price , Koumas , Navarro , Parkinson , Rideout (Barlow 71) 

Subs not used:  Murphy , Hinds , Allison  

Referee: - D Elleray, Harrow

Attendance: - 30,696

For the third time in the last three matches against Tranmere, Spurs ran out 4-0 winners setting up another classic with Chelsea in the Quarter Finals. Tranmere, with tremendous support from their travelling fans were a credit to both themselves and their division but the class of Spurs allowed us to win comfortably once we got ahead early in the match.

Pre Match was again spent at the Northumberland Arms – very much the topspurs pre-match pub & a good topspurs gathering included (in order of appearance) Lynford, Scooby, Haverhill Yid, The Flying Nunn and Mrs T FlyingNunn. The Away day Jonah made a brief appearance before Ray (The Terry Naylor Fan Club), Rosie and Jacob turned up.

It was also good to meet up with another topspurs regular Jerry from Melksham who bumped into us by chance after over hearing a conversation about topspurs.

It was also good to see a number of Tranmere fans in the pub – mixing well with the Spurs fans as it should be & as it was back at the Mersey Clipper in the League Cup game earlier in the season.

Front row, Rosie with a “ponced” pint of course!

On the way to the ground it was again good to see Bill Nick who gave us a wave.

One of the great things about being the webmaster at topspurs is having info from the snout and this is the info he came up with before the match as reported on the editorial.

“Tranmere Team News– The snout has revealed that Shaggy will not be starting and may not even make the bench today – but it is a precaution for next week where he is certain to be fit. King and Gardner will also be absent today, but the good news is that Ziege is a definite starter”

And so it proved, and my humble thanks to the Snout!

Ziege returned for first team action for the first time since Ipswich away over a month ago, and Davies replaced Anderton with Thatcher standing in for King. Teddy and Les started up front with Iversen dropping to the bench, where there was not even room for want away Rebrov who looks to have tried Hoddle’s patience once too often.

On a clear chilly winter’s afternoon, Spurs kicked off attacking the Park Lane which contained most of the stadium noise with the Tranmere fans being one of the best sets of away fans both in terms of noise and numbers. On a crap pitch, it is fair to say that Tranmere dominated the opening exchanges hitting the ground running from the kick off.

Against the run of play we took the lead with a fine goal from topspurs man of the match, Ziege. Ferdinand combined with Sheringham to get the ball to Davies midway inside the Tranmere half and our Welsh wizard got the ball thro to Ziege who was in acres of space and steadied himself before belting the ball high into the net to mark his return with a goal from the left hands side of the box

Ziege was excellent today and it was noticeable how well he links up with Sheringham and along with Anderton will be a great asset in the final next week.

Les looked a bit out of it in the first half – probably as a result of the daft goatee he now sports – but nearly doubled our lead when he turned well by the penalty spot, but dragged his shot wide of the post.

Tranmere still looked the more cohesive unit, but Spurs had loads of chances during the first half and it was Poyet’s turn next when he teed himself up for a 30-yard volley, which the keeper made a simple save look laboured. Ziege, who found acres of space wide on the left was always a threat and nearly scored again when he cut in and hit a strong right footed shot which whistled just wide of the far post.

On the other side of the pitch, a Spurs break away found Treacle racing forward and he took a shot early from 30 yards which sent the keeper down to his left for a good save. 88 Spurs appearances and still no goal for Treacle but he remains an important part of the team. Soon after this move I spotted their number three Roberts who must have been about 5”2’ and had the most ridiculous long shorts on him that covered his knees on his stumpy legs!

While Tranmere continued to play well, they did not really test Sully, although they were unlucky not to score when a goal ward header from a corner hit one of their own players just in front of the line with Sully beaten. Koumas had another audition in front of Hoddle and did well again, and for a reasonable fee, we could do worse than add the 22 year old to our squad for next season.

Elleray had his usual match – where he would make sure than he was the centre of attention all the time – calling players over to him and then giving them a talking to - a complete waste of time, esp. as once in the first half he stopped a Spurs move to do this without giving out a card. Ponce is about the best way to describe him, but at least he is not as incompetent as some of his other retarded colleagues.

While Sheringham had a good game away from the box, and he should have scored more than the goal he scored. A fine cross from Ziege found Sheringham coming in at the near post, but after doing well to beat his marker to the ball he could only deflect it the wrong side of the side netting.

With the amount of chances we’d created, we were worth another goal before the break and we were not to be disappointed 10 minutes from halftime.  An interchange of passes in the middle ended with Sheringham sending the ball out wide to Ziege who returned the ball back in the middle and Poyet, with all his old centre forwards instincts ran on to the ball to fire home from the middle of the box. A fine goal, but the unlucky man in all this was Davies who should have been put through on goal earlier in the move and let the ball run past him for Ziege to cross – but he can be pleased with his contribution and the task remains for Hoddle to find him a regular starting position in the team next season.

The second period was always going to be about retaining the lead as comfortably as we can and no injuries ahead of the final. Tranmere again started the half well and had couple of half chances. I’ve not seen the replay, but our third goal looked a bit fortunate. Treacle crossed and Ferdinand went in for one of those challenges with a keeper that virtually always end up as a foul on the keeper. This time no whistle and a weak punch fell to Sheringham who slotted thro a sea of legs to score his 106th Spurs goal and 14th in the FA Cup.

With the game won, it was great credit to the travelling fans that they continued to get behind their team – although even the chants of “we’ll support you ever more & Tranmere to I die” were the songs of the defeated!

While it has been great to have Ted back at Spurs – he is guilty more often than a player of his ability should be of over elaboration in front of goal and he has turned this into an art form. A good move found him in the middle of the goal on the edge of the penalty area with a decent chance of shooting, but he rolled the ball sideways or something and the chance was lost. That roll to Shearer against Holland ahs a lot to answer for!

The comedy continued when Sheringham appeared at the back post a yard out on the end of another excellent Ziege cross. Any sort of deflection forward would have sent the ball in but he somehow contrived to pass the ball backwards and Tranmere cleared.

Ted was also on the end of the best Spurs move of the half when Taricco found Davies in the box, and he got the ball on to Ted with an exquisite flick, but a covering defender made a great block and Tranmere cleared.

Sully had to take time out from telling the Park Lane what the score was to save a Barlow’s feet and Price sent his shot over when I don’t think anyone in the ground would have begrudged them a goal for their efforts.

The brilliantly named Mickey Mellon came on – worthy of a mention for his name alone.

In injury time Poyet rounded things off when his low shot was deflected in to give us another 4-0 against them. There was barely time to restart before the whistle blew and we are now paired up again with Chelsea in what should be another cracker – but we have the small matter of a Cup final next weekend and lets hope we are celebrating next Sunday as well

The Word of Hod

I was delighted with the performance and the result, It was a potential banana skin but we saw them off with relative ease in the end. I must give credit to Tranmere, because at 4-0 down in the last minute they were still giving exactly what they were giving in the first minute, which is probably why they have had some cup scalps over the past few seasons. Today, the difference in the divisions showed. We are now in the last eight and that is what today was all about, getting into the hat for tonight and hopefully a good draw.”

"The main thing is that we sent the fans home buoyant. They have some belief and can now look forward to next Sunday's Worthington Cup Final, as can the players."

"It was a bit of a risk to play Christian, but it came off. He scored a magnificent goal and put in quality crosses. On his day there is no better wing-back in the world."

"(Poyet) scored goals in systems at Real Zaragoza and Chelsea that I felt didn't really suit him, playing wide in a four-man midfield, We've freed him up, moved him more central and he is loving it. He's like a little kid, lapping it up and organising tickets for people to fly in from Uruguay."

Hoddle added with a smile: "Pity I've got to tell him he isn't playing on Sunday."

Sullivan (6/10) – A quiet afternoon giving the score to the Park Lane, but did a couple of good saves at the end

Thatcher (6/10) – Tried his best, but was given a bit of a tough time by Price, which reflects more on his ability than he commitment.

Richards (6/10) – A quietly efficient match at the back

Perry (6/10) – A solid match at the back

Taricco (6/10) – A good match going forward and always a threat, again linking well with Poyet

Ziege (7/10) – A fine return capped with a smart goal and a timely reminder of the quality of player we have been missing

Davies (6/10) – Good match in Anderton’s midfield role and he continues to impress

Sherwood (6/10) – Solid and sometimes classy in the middle – and continues to be the revelation of 2002

Poyet (6/10) – A good match capped with a couple of cup goals

Sheringham (6/10) – Missed a few, but scored a goal and had a good match all over the pitch

Ferdinand (6/10) – A quiet day for Sir Les

Subs:

Iversen (6/10) – Just a few minutes at the end

Etherington (6/10) – Just a few minutes at the end

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