Alex Morgan makes debut in hard-fought draw for Spurs Women

The spoils were shared as Spurs Women drew 1-1 with Reading at The Hive on Saturday (7 November) in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League.

Ashleigh Neville’s first-half header, the result of a Siri Worm corner, cancelled out Brooke Chaplen’s opener for the visitors in a tireless performance from our players.

Karen Hills, who returned to the dugout following a short period of self-isolation, and Juan Amoros made one change to the side that lost 2-0 to Chelsea at Kingsmeadow on Tuesday in the Conti Cup, with Alanna Kennedy replacing Lucia Leon in the starting line-up.

USA international Alex Morgan, playing her first game after a 15-month maternity break, made her Spurs debut when she came on as a substitute in the second half.

Before kick-off, both teams observed a minute's silence to mark this period of Remembrance - all match-worn shirts, each one emblazoned with the Poppy, are set to be auctioned in aid of the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal.

Reading went close after four minutes of a lively first half when Angharad James hit the side netting after latching onto Chaplen’s pass across goal.

The visitors broke the deadlock nine minutes later – former Spurs loanee Emma Mitchell drove down the left-hand side and fired a cross into our box which Chaplen nodded home to make it 1-0. We had the chance to draw level minutes later when Neville provided an excellent low cross from the right-hand side. The ball found its way to Angela Addison whose strike flew just over the crossbar.

Our equaliser came after 25 minutes from a set-piece routine. Worm’s corner was first won by Kerys Harrop, Rianna Dean’s second header kept the ball in the mixer before Neville headed the ball over Reading goalkeeper Grace Moloney and into the net to draw level. Six minutes later, Kennedy saw her header from Worm’s free-kick fly straight into Moloney’s gloves.

Both teams battled throughout a tight second half and our momentum grew when two-time World Cup winner Morgan was introduced into our attack for the final 20 minutes. Seconds later, Harrop tried her luck when she ran onto Worm’s corner with a powerful volley, but her effort went just wide of the post.

In the 90th minute, Becky Spencer provided a crucial save when she kept out Lily Woodham’s half-volley at close range to ensure the match finished honours even.

Our WSL campaign continues next Saturday (14 November) when we travel to Bristol City at Twerton Park in Bath.

Reaction on Spurs TV

Coach’s view

“I thought both teams battled really well and you saw that nearly every player was on their knees after the game, so they gave absolutely everything until the final whistle,” said Karen. “We knew it was going to be a tough game, it panned out that way and we’re thankful that we managed to come back and get the draw. We were mentally strong in that first half, especially when we went a goal down – the girls regrouped really well. We’ll be honest, we didn’t start as well as we were hoping to, we had to build ourselves into the game and I thought we did that.”

On the introduction of Alex, Karen added: “Alex has been excellent, working really hard. It’s taken her a little bit of time but she’s come on today really excited to get some minutes. We know what Alex is about, we know her mentality and we know that having someone of her calibre on the pitch is just going to help us grow even more into the final third. She came on, worked hard and I’m so pleased that Alex is now on the pitch – that will give the girls a lot of belief that we can finish in key moments.”

Match data

Goals: Spurs – Neville 25; Reading – Chaplen 13.

Yellow cards: Spurs – Harrop 63; Reading – Rowe 22.

Referee: Helen Conley.

Venue: The Hive, Edgware.

Weather: Bright, 13 degrees.

Attendance: Behind closed doors.