"It was Twenty Years ago today!"
article published 22.09.2017, but first written in 1997 by Neil Schaffer

FA PREMIER LEAGUE
TUESDAY 23RD SEPTEMBER, 1997
BOLTON WANDERERS 1(1) TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1(0)

Bolton scorer:-
Thompson (pen), 20

Spurs scorer:-
Armstrong, 71

Attendance:- 23,433

Referee:- Uriah Rennie

Teams:-
Bolton:- Branagan; Bergsson, Whitlow, Pollock, Taggart, Fish, Frandsen, Sellars, Blake, Beardsley, Thompson

Spurs:- Walker; Carr, Campbell, Mabbutt, Edinburgh (sub Vega, 46); Fox, Calderwood (sub Nielsen, 87), Clemence, Ginola; Dominguez, Mahorn (sub Armstrong, 46)

This original report was courtesy of Neil Schaffer

I made the long journey to Bolton last night with 3 colleagues, in anticipation of a long overdue Spurs victory. I drove home happy last night, as this was by far our best away performace so far this season.

The new stadium is something to be seen, and if you have the chance I can highly recommend a visit.

The Spurs contingent was fairly healthy, but there were a lot of empty seats in the upper tier where we were sitting, I would say around 2,000 made the journey.

Anyway on to the match. The first half started brightly for Spurs, for the first five minutes both Fox and Dominguez found themselves in excellent forward positions only for the final ball to be wasted. For the next 40 minutes it was like a siege, with Bolton passing and moving the ball about with consummate ease.

Spurs had no answer to the pace and power of Blake up front, or the artistry of Sellars, Beardsley, Frandsen, and especially Thompson. Indeed Thompson it was who saw a 30 yard thunderbolt crash off the bar. 5 minutes later Bolton were 1 up and deservedly so. Spurs's movement, in the first half was dire, and the cries of "We want our Tottenham back" were emerging once again. The half time whistle came as great relief.

The teams came out for the second half, and the Spurs fans started to get behind the boys once again. Armstrong received a standing ovation when introduced at the start of the 2nd half, and his introduction completely turned the game for Spurs.

At last we had a real serious threat up front. 3 times in the first 5 minutes of the half Armstrong beat the offside with his electric pace, and there were well-timed passes from Ginola, Clemence, and Dominguez. Things were looking good again, we actually looked like a fluid passing football team, and were a serious threat everytime we went forward.

The goal finally came after 70 minutes, a beautifully taken header by Armstrong from a left wing Ginola cross to the far post. What a relief. Bolton had other chances after we scored, but I feel on the whole a point is the least that we deserved on the night.

Got home at 3 a.m after a long, arduous but satisfactory nights work.

Bring on the Dons

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