Tottenham Hotspur   1    Bolton Wanderers   1      (Half-time score : 0-0)

Cerny

Hutton (Huddlestone 46)
Dawson (Bent 53)
Woodgate
Gilberto

Zokora     
Lennon
Jenas
Malbranque (O'Hara 77)

Berbatov
Keane (c)

Unused subs: 
Robinson
Tainio

Al Habsi

Samuel     
Andrew O'Brien
Cahill
Steinsson

Nolan (c)      
Campo      (Giannakopoulos 46)
McCann
Joey O'Brien (Guthrie 20)
Taylor

Rasiak (Diouf 46)

Unused subs: 
Walker
Fojut

Malbranque 52

Giannakopolous 46

     
Zokora (diving) 90 

 

      
Campo (foul) 35
Nolan (foul) 55
Samuel (kicking ball away) 87

There was little to get excited about in the first half, but a goal just after the break gave struggling Bolton the lead and Tottenham came back into the game with an equaliser and then proceeded to bombard the Bolton goal, without any success.  With potential new signing Luka Modric watching on, what must have been going through his mind, goodness only knows. 

As Jonathan Woodgate returned in defence, Tom Huddlestone dropped out and Gilberto replaced Pascal Chimbonda at left back.  Bolton set yup with five in midfield to crowd Tottenham out, as they started with a former brief Spur up front in Grzegorz Rasiak, who proved why we moved him on.

Spurs pushed forward early on, while Bolton seemed to be willing to rely on set-pieces.  Robbie Keane got put through on the left, but he could only hit a shot with the outside of his right foot that was easily caught by Al Habsi.  Bolton reverted to their old style of physical intimidation, as McCann and Joey O'Brien were putting themselves about, with Clattenburg not stamping down on it early on.  It didn't work for Bolton as after 20 minutes, that O'Brien had to be substituted as he damaged a knee.

Spurs were presented with a series of free-kicks from these fouls, but failed to make much of them, with Jermaine Jenas failing to get the ball over the first defender or hitting shots into the wall or in one case so high and wide, it was embarrassing.  Lennon did get on the end of one that had been cleared, but shi shot on the volley rose over the top.  When Spurs finally did work a bit of space for Robbie Keane on the left corner of the box, he took aim to try and curl the bal into the top right corner of the goal, but slightly over-did it, leaving his shot passing wide of the far post.  Then Steed Malbranque broke into the same sort of position, but could only nudge his shot wide of the goal as Al Habsi came out.

Woodgate threatened from a corner, but could only head Jenas' cross off target and just after the 33 minute mark, Aaron Lennon broke forward and left Bolton player sin his wake, but when it came to the final pass, the winger could not find either Berbatov or Malbranque.  Clattenburg did show a good refereeing decision, when he went back and booked Campo, as he had cynically brought down Jenas at the start of the move.

At the end of the first half, Alan Hutton was brought down for about the fourth time, as he got past his marker, leaving a free-kick for Spurs on the right hand corner of the box.  This time Jenas did not take it, but Gilberto was the more suitable option, being a left-footer and his low shot beat the wall, but found Steinsson at the near post and his sliced clearance struck the woodwork before going off for a corner.

At the interval, Bolton made two changes, with Campo, who was sitting in front of the back four, going off to be replaced by Stelios and Diouf replacing the disappointing Rasiak, who made little impact at all.  Alan Hutton had being helped over the advertising hoarding halfway through the first half by a McCann elbow and he made it across the pitch to his position, but could not carry on, as his limp got worse, leaving Tom Huddlestone to rush out of the tunnel and straight onto the pitch for Tottenham's kick-off.

The ball was played back to Dawson from the re-start and he played a low pass forward, which was cut out by a Bolton player.  Steinsson got wide and his low cross into the near post saw Cerny save from Diouf and Stelios was on hand to net the rebound to give Bolton a lead they had hardly deserved, but one which Tottenham could have avoided by netting in the first half.

Tottenham looked as though the change had disrupted them and it was only when they started going forward, with Huddlestone spraying passes around.  One move saw Jermaine Jenas inject some urgency into the passing with a crisp pass to Keane on the edge of the area.  Robbie turned and hit a shot that looked as though it was going wide, but came off a defender's leg and found Steed racing in at the far post to steer it into the net to level the score.  It had a slice of good fortune, but was a well-worked move.

Every time Lennon got the ball on the right wing, he beat Matthew Taylor, who was struggling to keep him in check, although plenty of Bolton players managed to check Lennon's progress unfairly.  Didier Zokora had dropped into the right back slot and linked well with Lennon, putting in some good runs and crosses.

There was a good chance for Keane, when Lennon ran into the area, passed to Berbatov and he passed sideways to Robbie, who should have shot first time, but took a touch around Cahill and Al Habsi was out at him quickly to shut down the angles.  Jenas struck a shot over the bar as it bounced up from Zokora's pull-back and Aaron hit a low shot from a long ball forward that went straight at the keeper, while Keane stood up a cross to the far post, where Malbranque came in, but took the shot with his right foot and put it across the goal, rather than in.

Zokora copied the tactic, by swinging in a cross with pace, but it was cleared to Keane, who hit s fierce shot which hit Darren Bent.  Lennon got to the by-line and dragged the ball back to Berbatov, who spun onto the shot which was well kept out at the post by Al Habsi.  After 67 minutes, another foul on Lennon saw Jeans take the kick out on the right of the area and his low pull-back found Berbatov and his similar shot to the previous one was blocked as he didn't get a proper contact on it.

Diouf had an opening when he got on the end of a scramble in the Tottenham area and screwed his effort wide.  A few minutes later, when Huddlestone got the ball past the last defender with a pass from very deep, Bent got onto it, but he tried to get it over the keeper as he came out at him, but only managed to hit his midriff.

As the game came to a close Jonathan Woodgate rose to Jenas' corner, but could not hit the target and then Huddlestone drilled an effort over the top from more than 20 yards out, just before he was pressured by McCann and sliced a shot wide from Berbatov's set-up.

From a corner in added time, O'Hara sent the ball over to see Darren Bent meet the ball with his head, but Danny Guthrie was on the line to nudge the ball away for another corner.  When Zokora made a long run into the Bolton penalty area, you could see that his legs were giving way under him and when challenged, he crumpled in the box and earned a yellow card from Clattenburg.

There was still time for one more chance, as O'Hara once more crossed, this time from a free-kick and he picked out Berbatov's head; unmarked and he put his header over the bar without troubling Al Habsi.

There were apparently 26 shots by Tottenham, with seven from Bolton.  It is really necessary to turn a greater percentage of these into goals if any progress is to be made next season and it needs to start this season.

I know there is nothing to play for now, but perhaps a couple of more ruthless performances in the remaining matches might go some way of showing that the team can finish the opposition off.

PURCELL COLE