Spurs Women hit Celtic for six

Spurs Women continued their pre-season preparations in style on Wednesday afternoon as they put six past Celtic FC at St George’s Park.

Midfielder Kit Graham starred in the rout as she netted twice against the Scottish Women’s Premier League side while Jessica Naz also got on the scoresheet. It was a memorable afternoon for our new signings, Asmita Ale, Maeva Clemaron and Jiali Tang who all netted their first goals for the Club. 

We dominated proceedings from the outset in Staffordshire as Ale had us in front with seven minutes on the clock. Ria Percival won the ball back well before releasing the full back down the right. The defender’s looping effort caught Celtic goalkeeper Rachael Johnstone off guard and nestled in the top corner.

Just 13 minutes later, we had our second as Graham stepped up to coolly convert a spot-kick won by Rachel Williams. The forward was adjudged to have been unfairly brought down in the box after shrugging off the attentions of two defenders to force her way to the byline.

Despite being two ahead, we didn’t let our pressure subside as we continued to hassle and harry our opponents. On 43 minutes, it was that commitment to the press that brought about our third. Clemaron won the ball back and strode forward before playing a neat one-two with Graham on the edge of the box. The midfielder collected her pass, turned and gave the ball back to the French international who finished her run with a dinked effort over the goalkeeper.

By the break it was three and the deficit could have been more had we taken our chances. Head Coach Rehanne Skinner rotated her squad at the interval with Percival, Ashleigh Neville and Angela Addison making way for Rosella Ayane, Naz and Josie Green.

Seven minutes into the second half, we had our fourth of the afternoon. Ayane threaded a pass behind the defence to Williams, who latched onto the ball and squared unselfishly for Naz to confidently slot home. Naz then came close to getting her second on the hour mark. The forward set off on a surging run through the middle before playing an incisive pass through to Williams. Her first-time effort was well blocked while the follow-up from Naz crashed back off the post.

Our fifth arrived on 75 minutes and may have been our best of the day. It was a well worked team move, transitioning from defence to attack. Ayane and Clemaron combined well to tee up Graham, who sent a curling effort into the top corner. That was to be the midfielder's final involvement of the afternoon as Skinner rung the changes once more with Williams and Ale also coming off.

New signings Kyah Simon and Tang then made their first appearances for the Club and were joined by the returning Olympic gold medallist and captain, Shelina Zadorsky. The substitutes made an immediate impact, linking up well for our sixth goal. Zadorsky and Australian international Simon combined well initially to find Tang in space. Our new signing marked her debut with a fine finish, firing a left-footed shot from a tight angle into the far corner. It wasn’t all plain sailing for us though as late on, Celtic grabbed a late consolation goal as Charlie Wellings guided a header past the outstretched arm of Tinja-Riikka Korpela.