FA CARLING PREMIERSHIP
SATURDAY 29TH APRIL, 2000
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 (0) DERBY COUNTY 1 (0)

Spurs scorer:-
Clemence, 90

Derby scorer:-
Carbonari, 62

Attendance:- 33,044

Referee:- Neale Barry

Teams:-
Spurs (4-4-2):- Walker; Carr, Perry, Campbell (capt), Young; Anderton, Clemence, Korsten (sub Davies, 46), Ginola (sub Etherington, 71); Armstrong, Iversen (sub McEwan, 71)

Subs not used:- Baardsen; Gardner

Booked:- Campbell, Korsten, Perry, Anderton

Derby (4-4-2/3-5-1 second half):- Poom; Delap, Laursen, Carbonari, Schnoor; Kinkladze, Burley, Powell (capt), Johnson; Burton (sub Boertien, 46, sub Murray, 79), Christie

Subs not used:- Oakes (GK); Elliott, Jackson

Booked:- Burton, Schnoor, Poom, Burley, Christie

Sent off (second bookable offence):- Schnoor, 40

Stephen Clemence scored his first league goal for Spurs to snatch a hardly deserved draw in injury time. This was yet another uninspiring performance by the home side, who failed to capitalise on Derby's loss of left back Stefan Schnoor, when he was given his marching orders five minutes before half time by card happy referee Neale Barry. Master tactician Jim Smith adjusted by pulling left winger Seth Johnson back into defence until half time, at which stage he replaced Burton with a defender - Boertien - and managed to compete on better than equal terms for the rest of the game.

It was to be expected that Derby (who are not yet mathematically safe from the drop) would be giving their all, whilst Spurs would have end of season apathy. They were missing Steffen Freund through suspension, but their other absences have been more long standing, so should not be offered as an excuse. Luke Young returned at left back, and was less than convincing against Kinkladze, and the midfield suffered through the deployment of Clemence too much on the right for a left footed player; another "in and out" show from England hopeful Anderton; and Korsten, who has proved to be a most disappointing acquisition so far.

About the only good news was the use of three of the youngsters, with Davies and McEwan making encouraging home debuts, and Etherington, who sadly was chosen to replace the entertainer - Ginola, to the dismay of the fans. Whilst Ginola did under-achieve today, he was about the only bright spark in the side today. I thought Sol Campbell had one of his most impressive games today, displaying all his strength, and venturing forward several times. (Is this a sign of different tactics from Houston, I wonder?).

The versatile Rory Delap played at right back today, but also had plenty of licence to get forward, usually unattended by Ginola, and in 4 minutes Delap was firing at Walker, who had to stretch to push the ball round the corner. Stephen Carr was soon emulating Delap, by getting into an advanced position within the box, picking up a Perry ball, and hitting the underside of the bar with his shot. The ball bounced away harmlessly.

Luke Young was being tested by both Delap and Kinkladze on the right flank, and Derby were testing the Spurs defence with too much regularity from all quarters. Burley and Powell were active in the middle, and Johnson was no slouch either. Almost the only influence Korsten had on the game was to win two 50-50 tackles and give Ginola and Iversen crossing opportunities. Kinkladze had a shooting chance in response but hit the ball wide.

After 22 minutes, Anderton chipped the defence with a lovely ball, and Iversen volleyed just over. I thought Iversen was the more impressive of the strikers today, and unlucky to be substituted. This seemed to be a day for physical strength, and not so much pace. Iversen was successfully holding off the ball, and getting more involved than his partner, Armstrong.

Walker had to make a super save at the feet of Delap who got through to a one on one situation after a 1-2 with Burton. Schnoor got his first booking for a handball, and his second offence was a late and unfair challenge on Armstrong who had got the better of the left back. I thought Derby were going to miss him, because he had been the most influential defender in my view, frustrating many of Carr's advances.

One such example was just before he got sent off, when Sol put Carr through, and Schnoor's tackle deprived the right back of the ball. On this occasion the ball ran to Anderton, whose long range effort was wide.

The early interesting action seemed to come from Ginola on the left, with a number of runs and crosses. Most were off the mark, but one did reach Anderton in a good shooting position on the edge of the box, but his double effort was blocked. Davies got on the end of an Anderton right field cross, with a header, but in truth he didn't know much about where he was putting the ball, which did not trouble Poom.

Derby put Spurs under the cosh on the hour, and Kinkladze lifted the ball over the over-committed Walker (for a change) to put Burley clear near the bye line. Anderton did well to head clear the danger, but Spurs then had a scramble to clear from a Carbonari effort. The Derby defender stayed up for the next corner. Sol got drawn out of the area as Kinkladze tricked Young again, Delap picked up the ball, then cut back for Carbonari to drive into the corner for a deserved goal.

Stephen Carr had another good chance, as Iversen and Anderton put him through, but he shot well over the target. McEwan nearly scored on his debut with a near post header from a Carr cross, but the ball went across the goal. With seven minutes remaining, McEwan was guilty of an Armstrong type miss, as he was in space only 10 yards out after good work by Anderton and Armstrong. The new boy put this shot wide too, displaying understandable nerves.

The boo boys were just getting ready to vent their anger, when up popped Clemence standing almost on the goal line, when an Anderton corner was headed goalwards, and Clemence at first blocked the header then back-heeled it over the line.

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