23  Rhyan GRANT (25 Aaron CALVER 73)
  6  Nikola PETKOVIC (  5 Matthew JURMAN 65)
  2  Sebastian RYALL
15  Alexander GERSBACH

17  Terry ANTONIS (12 Hagi GLIGOR 65)
27  Mickael TAVARES (18 Peter TRIANTIS 46)
11  Bernie IBINI-ISEI (38 Brandon O'NEILL 80)
14  Alex BROSQUE (35 Andrew HOOLE 46)
13  Christopher NAUMOFF (34 Robert STAMBOLIEV 46)

  9  Shane SMELTZ (29 George BLACKWOOD 46)
 

Unused subs: 
20  Vedran JANJETOVIC
 

12  DeAndre YEDLIN
  5  Jan VERTONGHEN (15 Eric DIER 46)
25  Benjamin STAMBOULI
42  Nabil BENTALEB

38  Ryan MASON (44 Harry WINKS 63)
19  Mousa DEMBELE (45 Kyle WALKER-PETERS 46)

17  Andros TOWNSEND (58 Grant WARD 63)
23  Christian ERIKSEN (22 Nacer CHADLI 46)
11  Erik LAMELA (28 Tom CARROLL 63)

18  Harry KANE (47 Josh ONOMAH 85)

Unused subs: 
44  Luke McGEE
 

Tottenham beat Sydney FC in the massive ANZ (formerly Olympic) Stadium, attracting 71,000 to the 1-0 victory that ended the Australasian tour with a performance that showed that even after a gruelling season, the players can still put in the effort to control a game against a keen Sydney side.  Maybe the match had been blown up too much, with Lloris and Kane featuring on the promotion for the game having their pictures projected onto Sydney Harbour Bridge, so the match balls seemed to have been a bit of a let down. Two were not up to the regulation pressure with just a couple of minutes gone.

When the ball was pumped up properly, a short corner was played to Andros Townsend and his whipped in cross saw Erik Lamela get his head to it right in front of goal, but he glanced it over. Dembele lost the ball 20 yards out and the ball was played through looking for former AFC Wimbledon striker Shane Smeltz, but DeAndre Yedlin sped across to clear the ball and got fouled by the forward. Breaking up another attack, Spurs broke away with pace and Townsend did what he usually does, cutting in from the right to smash a shot at goal, but it flew far too high and wide of the goal. Then Townsend failed to pick out Eriksen, but the clearance didn't go far and Kane fired in a shot that was hit straight at the keeper.

Spurs took control of the game early on and a perceptive pass along the left wing by Vertonghen put Bentaleb away in acres of space, but his cross was too hard and too far in front of Kane, as the patched up pitch did not help the delivery of the ball in and around the box. Lamela didn't worry about that too much when Kane blocked a clearance and Eriksen played it to him, executing a 'rabona' from outside the box that almost chipped the keeper and went close to grazing the post as it went wide. It was an audacious effort and one that almost gave Tottenham the lead.

With the game dying a bit, as neither side were stringing passes together, Dembele played it out to Lamela and then it went wide to Townsend, who put Yedlin in outside him on the right. His low cross didn't find Kane, but the ball ran loose to Eriksen on the edge of the box, but he uncharacteristically blazed the ball over the bar. Vertonghen's perfect chipped pass over the Sydney defence found Kane running onto it, but he tried to push it wide of the keeper to go around him, but it hit Necevski and the chance was gone.

Sydney almost went ahead when a square pass to Mason on the edge of the Tottenham box was out of his reach and Alex Brosque took the ball past Lloris, as he came out to him and his shot was heading into the goal until Vertonghen managed to stick his left foot out back the way he had come from to clear the ball off the line. A break by Christopher Naumoff saw him come inside from the right wing to hit a shot at goal, but it was still rising as it went over the crossbar.

Seven minutes before half-time, Lamela broke through the middle and hit a low skidding shot that the keeper couldn't hold and Townsend was onto it on the left of the goal as he looked at it and squared it for Kane, who miscued his effort. Soon after Lamela laid on a chance for Eriksen from outside the box, but his curled shot was held by the goalie. Townsend broke away again and his intended pass to Mason was left for Erik Lamela to have a shot that was too high. When Dembele broke up a Sydney attack on the edge of his own box, he played the ball to Townsend and on to Eriksen, who swept it wide to Lamela. He found Kane running outside him on the right and entering the box, he hit a low shot across Necevski to bury it low into the far bottom corner of the net. It was what is becoming a typical strike from Kane and he made it 1-0 to Spurs.

The inevitable changes at the break and during the second half interrupted the flow of the game and it became a different match to the first 45 minutes. Ibeni-Isei found himself 25 yards out and with time to take a couple of touches, so it was no surprise that he had a shot that was powerful, but fortunately straight at Vorm, who had replaced Lloris a couple of minutes earlier. While Sydney were passing the ball better after the interval, they were finding space in wide positions, but their crossing was wayward to be kind.

Nabil Bentaleb seemed to be everywhere. Bringing the ball out from the corner of his own box with a neat bit of skill before being fouled beyond the halfway line, then producing a back-heel to put Winks in on the right hand channel in the area. Triantis slid in and made contact with the young midfielder, but the referee did not consider it a penalty.

In the 69th minute, a well judged pass from deep by Bentaleb found Chadli in the box, who used his body and strength to hold off a defender and then aimed a pass inside from the left to two Spurs players bursting into the box. They both missed it and it ran into substitute Harry Winks' path
but he scuffed his shot, which was blocked, then picked up by Kane. He shimmied and moved the ball to make a shooting opportunity to hit a low shot from the right of the goal across the keeper and was denied by a clearance off the line by Ryall.

A neat interchange by Winks and Carroll saw the defender left for dead, as Tom's flick took the ball over him and he crossed the ball from the dead ball line, but the ball was knocked out for a corner. Crosses from Yedlin Carroll and Winks tried to find Kane, but were defended well. Carroll's corner was pulled back Darren Anderton like to Harry Kane ahead of the near post and the striker could not quite get his foot around the ball enough and it went wide. One moment of concern for Tottenham came when Blackwood won the ball in the area on the right dead ball line and pulled it back into the six yard box, but Yedlin was there to clear it.

Walker-Peters found Kane running into the left side of the box and he was denied by a good interception after Ward had made a yard for himself to drive in a shot from the left corner of the Sydney penalty area. The home team had a chance deep into added time, when Bentaleb had a free-kick given against him for hand-ball, when he was fouled and fell on it. The cross came in from Hoole and for once found the head in a light blue shirt, with Blackwood glancing it a foot wide of Vorm's left hand post with the keeper scrambling to make the ground had it been on target.

The end of the game saw only three Spurs starters still on the pitch but the youthful injection into the side saw them play an open and adventurous style, that may be something Mauricio Pochettino decides might be a way forward in the early Europa League stages. They played the ball well, moved energetically and kept Sydney at bay for the majority of the second half. The goal from Harry Kane settled the game, with Sydney rarely carving out openings that troubled Tottenham. It was not too strenuous at the end of a long season, with a few players staking a claim for a place in the squad for next season.

Yedlin did well today, doing nothing fancy, but showing an understanding of his defensive role; Carroll showed for the second time that he is a player who can quicken the tempo of the game from midfield; Josh Onomah stood up well to senior footballers; Harry Winks exhibited the drive from midfield which have made him a talent Spurs rate highly; Kyle Walker-Peters showed a willingness to get forward and that he is a good defender too and Benjamin Stambouli showed that he is comfortable having been dropped back into a central defensive position.

The star of the show was, of course, Harry Kane, who scored all three goals on tour, but the need for a partner or replacement is there, as Roberto Soldado did not feature at all in the two matches. With Adebayor on his way out and Shaquile Coulthirst's future uncertain, Spurs are not likely to rely on Onomah as back up for Kane.

So, a few weeks rest before the squad get back into training in pre-season, with Pochettino bashing them into shape for a season of closing down and movement off the ball. Hopefully, it will lead to a season of continued progress.

Grafton Underwood