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Tottenham Hotspur Links: Spurs Ladies into Ryman Cup Semi-finals

By Alexander Balano

Lewes Ladies 0-2 Spurs Ladies | Photo taken by James Boyes on September 6, 2015 | Source: Flickr -- Creative Commons // Goal celebration
Lewes Ladies 0-2 Spurs Ladies | Photo taken by James Boyes on September 6, 2015 | Source: Flickr -- Creative Commons // Goal celebration /
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Here’s the latest edition of Tottenham Hotspur Links.

Thanksgiving is over and now it’s Black Friday. Sunday could be Lilywhite should Tottenham win and let’s hope they do. Now onto the stories for today. Up first, Spurs Ladies beat Gillingham on Wednesday to advance into the Ryman Cup semi-finals. They’re close to heading back to the finals where they fell just short, losing to Charlton Athletic Ladies who lifted the trophy up last season. Next, Glenn Hoddle sees one negative in Dele Alli’s game and that’s his aggression. If he cleans that up, he’ll become even better. And finally, Chelsea could be getting their captain back, John Terry, ahead of Sunday’s London derby. These are the links, time to read them below.

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The final score may have ended 5-3 but Spurs had to beat a Gillingham side that wouldn’t go down without a fight. After heading into halftime with a comfortable 3-0 lead due to an own goal by the Gills, and two separate goals by Wendy Martin (18th minute) and Katie O’Leary (44th minute). Gillingham came roaring back with two quick scores to cut the deficit to just one goal, 3-2 (goals in the 51st and 52nd minute).

With Wednesday’s quarter-finals game turning into a thriller and a spot in the Ryman Cup semi-finals almost slipping away from Spurs. It took a brace from new signing Lucy Loomes to seal the victory. The England Under-19 international who was making her first appearance pushed Spurs’ lead back up to two goals (65th minute) to make it 4-2. But once again, Gillingham would quickly respond just a minute after Loomes’ first goal to keep the game close at 4-3. Loomes’ second goal, and the last score of the game overall, happened with 10 minutes left in the game.

Wednesday’s win not only sends Spurs Ladies into the semi-finals of the Ryman Cup, but Tottenham are two games away from reaching the promise land in two consecutive seasons. Last year, Spurs made it to the Ryman Cup finals only to finish as runners-up after losing to Charlton Athletic Women’s Football Club.

Here’s Spurs Ladies manager Karen Hills following the win:

“First of all, it was vitally important for us to win this game after what happened against Portsmouth on Sunday. We started well, took the game to them and looked comfortable at half-time but a couple of errors allowed Gillingham back into it. To the players’ credit, they always found a response and Lucy was excellent on her debut.”

“Lucy just underlined the sense of belief she has as a player. She works tirelessly across the front and she’s not afraid to put her foot in either. She’s had a positive impact and gelled so quickly with the team. We made it tougher than it needed to be but we got the result and in the cup, that’s all that really matters.”

If there’s one negative that Glenn Hoddle sees with Dele Alli, it’s his aggression. In one instance it’s good to see a 19-year-old not feel intimidated by the Premier League but on the other hand, it has cost Alli a game after being suspended for his fifth yellow card of the season against West Ham United this past Sunday.

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Obviously, Dele Alli will learn over time. With that said, here’s Glenn Hoddle’s quick summary of the 19-year-old English midfielder plus what Tottenham can do with Alli being suspended.

“I’ve been really impressed with Alli. He’s a young man who wants to do well, he’s a good tackler and good at recovering the ball, but from what I’ve seen he just gets involved in silly things from time to time. He needs to channel his aggression better and let his football do the talking.”

“Spurs will miss him, but they can adjust. Maybe Mousa Dembélé will move back alongside Eric Dier and Christian Eriksen can go central, meaning a winger will come in. Or Ryan Mason could come into midfield. They have good options.”

Whether Chelsea captain, John Terry, was going to be fit or not for Sunday’s London derby shouldn’t necessarily mean much. While it would’ve been a bit easier with the 34-year-old center-back not in the starting lineup, it’s always best to expect a strong lineup regardless of injuries.

Besides, even if Terry returns, he is just now getting back into game fitness. Suffering an ankle injury on Tuesday night in the Champions League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv doesn’t give the Chelsea defender much rest. Also, with an ankle injury, even at 70-80 percent healthy, can John Terry move around and hang with Tottenham who are causing problems for opposing defenses this season?

Next: How Will Tottenham Line Up Against Chelsea?

Spurs are the fittest team in the league, meaning that they could run all over the pitch and tire out other teams. Chelsea may be chasing the entire game, literally. Although the score might be closer than the last time these two teams faced on New Year’s Day.