By Jon H
August 28 2003

Like a bunch of Hobbits going to Mordor for a day trip, Spurs fans set off from the shires with a sense of foreboding and nervous anticipation hanging in the air as we began the long, arduous trip north. Match report – Liverpool 27/08/2003: Like a bunch of Hobbits going to Mordor for a day trip, Spurs fans set off from the shires with a sense of foreboding and nervous anticipation hanging in the air as we began the long, arduous trip north. For seven long years now the Fellowship of the Spurs have sought precious points from Liverpool, only to come away empty handed. The four and a half hour car and mini bus journey, punctuated by [only] ONE beer stop did nothing to dampen our spirits as we arrived in that most welcoming of northern cities, Liverpool. Always one of the better away trips, this one proved to be no different. We soon established base camp in “The Arkles” which was [as usual] packed with Yids, hell-bent on establishing a new UK all-comers drinking record [see forthcoming photos for evidence]. Also while in Arkles I met ‘Rosie’ one of ‘Topspurs’ regular columnists – nice fella. After exchanging a few pleasantries with our honest, hard-working friends from the ‘Pool [with the help of a translator] it was off to the game. Anfield, with it’s Hillsborough Memorial and the Bill Shankly gates, is one of the great venues of English football. One always seems to get the feeling that it’s like saying hello to an old friend when you arrive at the ground. Then that hymn ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ echoed around a packed, expectant Anfield – goose bumps at the ready. The game itself began pugalistically with punch followed by parry and counter punch. Firstly Liverpool, who employed an almost ‘Ardiles-esque’ front five, almost scored within a few seconds, only for Spurs to respond by laying siege to the Liverpool goal and forcing a succession of corners. This early Spurs pressure seemed to galvanise the Spurs support who urged their team forward with both Carr and Ricketts going close. Just as the tension appeared to be reaching fever pitch, the high drama turned to pantomime as Uriah Rennie entered the fray with a vengeance [booo!!!!!]. Rennie is one of those old style referees who regards linesmen as a nuisance, almost an irritation, taking little or notice of them, unless it suited him. It was almost as if he thought “hang on a minute, there’s far too much fast free flowing football going on around here, we can’t be having that especially as I’m not on the telly”. He managed to somehow make Rob Styles look like Mr Pierluigi Colina, with a display of stunning ineptitude. First of all Frodo Redknapp was harshly booked for a fair challenge, and then there was a succession of appalling decisions against that gallant band in white. Gardner, or so it seemed to me, was booked six or seven times, Richards was then booked for a non-existent tackle, which set the tone for the rest of the game. As soon as a Spurs player went within Giro-grabbing distance of a Liverpool player, there was a whistle followed by a cacophony of abuse from the massed, baying ranks of Spurs fans who by now had silenced the Kop and were closely resembling a Welsh male voice choir at Eisteddfod, in their unstinting, vociferous support of both the team, and Hoddle. Hoddle’s acknowledgement of the travelling support seemed to ‘spur’ them on to even greater decibels as the half wore on. Another to acknowledge the Spurs support was Orc in chief Phil Thompson, who gave a two-clawed salute to Spurs’ rousing rendition of ‘Sit Down Pinocchio’. Gandalf Hoddle was by now weaving his magic from the touchline – encouraging, cajoling, rallying and directing his merry band of players. For Spurs, in the first half, that triumvirate in the back three were immense. Rohan Ricketts at times looked lost, but improved immeasurably in the second half, where he was at the heart of all Spurs attacking moves [both of them]. Simon Davies, for me, was a complete waste of space, dwelling on the ball, not tracking back, and leaving Steven Carr with a lot more defensive work than he should have had. This meant, especially in the second half that we could not attack with any real conviction. Mind you, when Spurs did look in danger of venturing from the safety of their own half, Mr Rennie soon put paid to it with a well-timed whistle. Bobby Zamora showed some neat touches but his control was lacking at crucial times. Kanoute came on to rapturous acclamation from the Spurs fans and showed some neat skill and added a significant presence. Postiga is rapidly becoming a favourite with the Spurs fans and he proved why last night with a show heavy on commitment and once he starts to get the service the goals will surely follow. Summary: Last night’s game highlighted the need to recruit a hard tackling midfielder to complement Redknapp. Once he’d been booked early doors, we began to struggle to cope with Steven Gerrard’s all-action performance. In the second half when Danny Murphy came on this became even more evident as Liverpool began to turn the screw. Spurs, who had started so brightly faded in the second half but still looked resolute. If ever there was a game of two halves then this was it, with Spurs gaining the plaudits in the first half, but Liverpool storming back to gain the ascendancy in the second. A point apiece was a fair result but Spurs will feel a little aggrieved by the officialdom on show. All in all a satisfying Spurs performance, one punctuated though, by slack passing, and poor distribution, especially in the last half hour, a vice which could have cost us dearly. Final thought: I always thought that Rennie was supposed to relieve indigestion, not be a cause of it. P.s. I bet you can’t guess what DVD I was watching before I set off…………. Jon