THudd Thwarts Vale

Spurs made heavy work of Port Vale last night, needing extra time to see them off and at one point being 10 minutes away from getting knocked out of the competition altogether. As it was, it just needed an injection of class, and with the introduction of Lennon, Berbatov and Ghaly the game was easily turned around into Spurs’ favour and Port Vale were dispatched 3-1.

That it was such a struggle probably owed a lot to Mido’s withdrawal before the game with a knee injury. It meant that Jol, with his desire to rest Keane & Berbatov, went with Andy Barcham and Defoe up front. Now no disrespect to Barcham, but he is no Mido and if Keane and Defoe doesn’t work as a partnership there is no way Barcham and Defoe was going to either. As it was Spurs’ attacking moves weren’t working, Defoe was blasting chances everywhere but the net and it took a Vale goal to enliven the tie.

Once the big boys were on there was only one result, and Tom Huddlestone’s first two goals for the club, the second a real screamer, plus a late Defoe tap in were enough to put away Port Vale. It was a risky move by Jol to play so many of the second string, but he got away with it. Malbranque looked rather short of match fitness, but there are ideas there, and Dorian Dervitte looked good on his debut. Other than that, the highlight is simply being in the next round, and extending the unbeaten run to 10 games.

Quarter Final draw on Sky Sports 1 (or Sky Sports News) during Soccer Saturday. Lets hope for a nice home game against Wycombe or Southend.

The Waddler.