Spurs 2-1 London City Lionesses, Women's Super League | Martin Ho's verdict
Martin Ho was ‘very pleased’ with the display from the first minute until the full-time whistle as we returned to winning ways in the Women’s Super League with a 2-1 victory at London City Lionesses on Sunday afternoon.
Signe Gaupset got us off to the perfect start to net the opener after just 12 minutes at Brisbane Road and that was then followed by a sensational strike from Olivia Holdt, around 25 yards out and into the top corner, to double our advantage by the half hour mark.
We had a number of opportunities to further extend our lead but were unable to find th breakthrough once again before former Spur Alanna Kennedy struck in the 90th-minute to pull one back for the visitors.
That ultimately created a nervy ending in front of our Lilywhite fanbase, but we dug deep to ensure we came away with three points and sees us break our record points tally (33) in a single season in the competition.
“From start to finish, I thought we were good,” Martin told us, reflecting on the win with SPURSPLAY. “I thought we had large moments where we were very good and we had some lapses in concentration, where I felt we let them back in at times. But overall, I'm really, really pleased.
“We've taken big steps, not just as a team, but individually. I think that's a big part of football, how you develop individually as staff and players, and we've come together and really pushed as much as we can.
“Today, we were the deserved winners of the game, overall. We maybe should have capitalised on a few more chances that we had, but then we showed the different sides of us when we had to defend.
“We'll be disappointed to concede that goal because I think we were in good control, but you know good sides are going to have chances. We just have to make sure moving forward that we try and take those goals away.”
On the ruthless opening 30 minutes to get ahead in the contest…
“When you get into those positions, you want your players to be brave enough to take the shots and strike at goal. Siggy had done it really well from really good pressure, and then Olivia, outside the box in terms of working half a yard and shooting - you know those two players are capable of scoring goals if we get them in those positions. There were some other chances we should have capitalised on. Going forward, I'm sure we were better in those areas. We just need now to make sure we keep pushing forward and moving forward.”
On Signe dropping deeper to partner alongside Drew Spence and how that allows her to express herself on the pitch…
“I think if you look at the way we play with the ball and how we progress the ball, it's really, really good. Some of our build-up was very good. I think what that allows is Drew and Siggy to be more flexible in that build-up phase. With them in there, it allows Siggy to go free up and play slightly higher, knowing you've got the experience and the quality of Drew behind her.”
On playing at home for the final time this campaign and the supporters throughout the game…
“They've come out every single home game we've had here. We've made it difficult for teams and they've played a huge part in that, making sure that their noise is loud, their energy is good - through good and bad parts of the games, they push us through and they let us know when they want more from us. I can't thank them anymore.
“Home or away this year, they've been outstanding. I want to make sure that they get a lot of the applauders for what we've achieved this year in terms of the points tally being the highest. We've had some really good performances at home and have one of the best records, so I want to make sure that continues next year, but we have to give them a lot of thanks because everything we do is for them.”
On making sure the focus remains fully on the final game despite the achievements reached this afternoon…
“One more game to go and we want to make sure that we keep pushing in those games to make sure that we get over the line and no game at any point, whether we think we're in a position where we can't move from, we have to really push forward into next year and you want to continue that momentum going to Brighton - and that gives you confidence and belief going into next season.”
Player of the Match | Spurs vs London City Lionesses