Tottenham Hotspur

SPURSPLAY

SPURSPLAY

Bethany made a personal commitment to support the Foundation in driving healthier and happier lifestyles at the start of this season, going on to help deliver the Shape Up with Spurs programme for cancer patients in Enfield, as well as the Active Memories programme at Lorenco House care home, near Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Her support has extended to bringing along teammates to sessions, personally collecting and donating new exercise equipment for participants, hosting them for a memorable visit to our Training Centre and bringing them pitchside ahead of a Spurs Women game at the Stadium.

During a visit to the cancer exercise group this week, there was an exclusive screening of a video marking Bethany’s support across the season, with participant Susan Finn alongside Patricia Stephani, a Lorenco House resident, then surprising Bethany with her award.

In the video, Bethany says: “Communities help bring people together and know they’re not alone. Being at such a big football club, we obviously know we’ve got fans, but we don’t know what’s going on in those fans’ lives. Considering what they bring towards helping us on the pitch, it’s about how we can give back and help them off the pitch.

“Going into the community and seeing these people, whether they’re struggling, whether they need help in different areas, if I’m in a position to help, I will always want to.”

Susan said: “Knowing Beth’s coming along to our sessions gives us an enormous morale boost. We watch and support her as she gets involved, and it makes us think that we’re going to do our best for Beth. It’s been great!

“The session was more ‘sit and move’ when Beth first came along, but thanks to her support and the brilliant team at the Foundation we now rarely sit and do exercises as most of it we can do standing.

“Beth visiting us has also given us a keen interest in football. We were really excited to watch her play and I’m going to Brighton to watch her and the team next week.”

The Foundation is dedicated to tackling health inequalities across Haringey and Enfield. Bethany has been spurred on to support that work by her own experience of caring for her grandmother and having seen the impact of cancer on other family members.

Adam Millar, Foundation health and wellbeing programme coordinator, said: “Seeing Bethany recognised in this way means a huge amount to everyone involved in our programmes. Her genuine commitment to supporting people in our community has made a real, lasting difference. She doesn’t just show up; she connects, motivates and inspires. This award reflects the impact she’s had on individuals who have grown in confidence, improved their wellbeing and felt a stronger sense of belonging thanks to her support.”

The Foundation’s Shape Up with Spurs and Active Memories programmes are made possible by the Premier League and Professional Footballers’ Association Players’ Fund.

Administered through the Premier League Foundation, the funding helps football clubs tackle inequality and respond to local challenges, supporting people and their communities to be more inclusive.

Support also comes from the Postcode Lottery and individuals who fundraise for the Foundation.

To find out more about how you can help, click here.

Watch the full video here

SPURSPLAY

SPURSPLAY

SPURSPLAY

SPURSPLAY

In a tough battle, we were undone by two set-piece goals, Noel Atom lashing home to open the scoring just prior to the half-hour mark before substitute Kofi Shaw nodded in from close range to complete the scoring just over 10 minutes from time.

In between, the Seagulls had gone 2-0 up when Shane Nti rolled into an empty net 11 minutes into the second period, but Melia won and converted a spot-kick almost immediately to keep us in it at 2-1.

Having missed first-half chances through captain James Rowswell and Reiss Russell-Denny, we couldn’t find a way back and slipped to our first-ever Under-21 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with the visitors advancing to face Manchester United in next week’s play-off final.

The teams seemed well-matched in the first half as they locked horns in search of a way through, Harry Howell drilling just wide and Nti just missing a header in the middle of the box for Brighton while Leo Black fired just off-target for us before a big chance for Rowswell on 25 minutes, the captain coming in from the right on the overlap with space to shoot but seeing his angled effort superbly blocked by covering full-back Zane Albarus.

It was Brighton who forged ahead on 29 minutes as we couldn’t deal with a corner and Atom was on hand to blast high into the net from inside a congested area, with Rowswell preventing Nehemian Oriola from making it two when he blocked the winger’s effort behind at the near post moments later.

Russell-Denny, a star of last week’s quarter-final win at Chelsea, was left kicking himself after going through on goal on 34 minutes, only to fire agonisingly wide, while both he and Leo Black saw shots charged down in the Brighton box during a spell of heavy pressure. Howell, though, almost netted a bolt from the blue for Albion in first-half stoppage time, but his curler came back off the post with Oriola sending the rebound over the bar.

Russell-Denny’s half-volley was deflected over at the start of the second period, but on 56 minutes we suffered a sucker punch by conceding a second goal, Oriola advancing down the left flank onto a monster of a kick from goalkeeper Steven Hall and leaving the advancing Carey Bloedorn stranded at the corner of his box as he slid a pass across for Nti to convert into the empty net from a tight angle on the other side.

Within moments, though, we had one back as Melia was fouled in the box by Ben Barclay after latching onto James Wilson’s pass, the Irish striker dusting himself down to blast the resulting penalty emphatically into the top corner with 59 minutes on the watch.

Bloedorn made an excellent reaction same from Barclay’s header while Wilson couldn’t quite pull Black’s forward ball under control at the other end, but on 79 minutes the Seagulls restored their two-goal lead as a corner was headed back across goal and Shaw nodded in from close range. Unfortunately, there was no way back from there as our season at Under-21 level came to a disappointing end.

‘We conceded at disappointing times’

“When you get this far, it’s disappointing not to get to the final,” conceded Under-21s Coach Wayne Burnett in his post-match interview on SPURSPLAY. “The players have given full effort and application and I can’t fault their work ethic because they’ve really tried to have a go this evening, but we’ve just fallen short.

“I thought it was a close game but we conceded goals at really disappointing times. Once we got our first goal the momentum swung our way, but then we gave a goal away from a set-piece – it was two tonight, which is really disappointing from our point of view. Both teams had chances, certainly we had a couple of chances in the first half, they hit the post, but it’s really disappointing in the end.”

With the season at this level now at an end, Wayne reserved praise for our supporters, adding: “I can only thank our fans – their support is invaluable and the players really do appreciate that. They’re part of our team, they’re part of what we do and we value them highly, so I’d just like to thank them for their support.”

Line-ups

Spurs: Bloedorn, Rowswell (c), Logan, Cassanova, Hardy (Furnell-Gill 80), Kyerematen (Lehane 80), Wilson, Black, Melia, Russell-Denny (McFadden 90+4), T Thompson (Adewole 80). Substitute (not used): Archer.

Brighton & Hove Albion: Hall, Albarus, Keogh, Barclay, Atom, Middleton, Silsby (West 89), Robertson (c) (Mackley 64), Nti (Shaw 72), Howell, Oriola. Substitutes (not used): Jensen, Belmont.

Match data

Goals: Spurs – Melia 59 (pen); Brighton & Hove Albion – Atom 29, Nti 56, Shaw 79.

Yellow cards: Spurs – Black 27, Hardy 50.

Referee: Craig Hicks.

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Weather: Clear sky, gentle breeze, 15 degrees.

Attendance: 972.

In a tough battle, we were undone by two set-piece goals at either end of the game, Noel Atom lashing home to open the scoring just prior to the half-hour mark before substitute Kofi Shaw nodded in from close range to complete the scoring just over 10 minutes from time.

In between, the Seagulls had gone 2-0 up when Shane Nti rolled into an empty net 11 minutes into the second period, but Melia won and converted a spot-kick almost immediately to keep us in it at 2-1.

Having missed first-half chances through captain James Rowswell and Reiss Russell-Denny, we couldn’t find a way back and slipped to our first-ever Under-21defeat at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with the visitors advancing to face Manchester United in next week’s play-off final.

More to follow...

SPURSPLAY