TV
Match of the Day 2  (BBC 1) - Sunday 22.25 (highlights)  Also available online.

For coverage in all parts of the world, check here and here.

Radio :  
BBC LONDON 94.9FM (London area only), Digital Radio (London area only) &  Sky Channel 0152  (live coverage)
Commentary may be found on
>   BBC Radio Five Live (live coverage)  606/939 MW
>  TalkSport (DAB or 2089 MW)
>  Absolute Radio  (1215 AM/MW)

If available on BBC radio, it can supposedly be heard in these countries on these stations ...
Australia (Melbourne) SEN  -  116 AM  Live Transmissions: TWI, Saturday. 12.45 & 15.00 matches
Australia (Sydney)  Radio 2  -  1611AM  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 12.45 Match
Singapore Media Corp Radio  -  93.8 FM  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
South Africa  SABC (Radio 2000)  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
Uganda  Radio 1 (English) 90.0 FM, Radio 2 (Lugandan) 87.9 FM  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
North America (USA, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean)  Sirius Satellite Radio  Live transmission: Saturday - 12.45, 15.00 (TWI) & 17.15 (BBC) Sunday - 14.00 & 16.05 (BBC) Mon, Tue, Wed - Various times (BBC)

Internet :
www.spurs.co.uk   Live webcast  - subscribers only
BBC London - http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/20/12/live_commentaries_feature.shtml click on link to "Listen to Tottenham Hotspur live commentary" on top right hand menu.

  2  Kyle WALKER
27  Kevin WIMMER
  4  Toby ALDERWEIRELD
  3  Danny ROSE

15  Eric DIER  (22  Nacer CHADLI  90)
19  Mousa DEMBELE

11  Erik LAMELA  (28  Tom CARROLL  66)
23  Christian ERIKSEN 
20  Dele ALLI  (  8  Ryan MASON 82)

10  Harry KANE   

Unused subs: 
13  Michel VORM
16  Kieran TRIPPIER
  7  Heung-Min SON
25  Josh ONOMAH

15  Adam SMITH
  2  Simon FRANCIS (c)      
  3  Tommy COOK
11  Charlie DANIELS

30  Matt RITCHIE
  6  Andrew SURMAN
  8  Harry ARTER  (32  Euan O'KANE 46)
10  Max GRADEL  (  7   Marc PUGH 70)

17  Josh KING
20  Benik OFOBE  (28  Lewis GRABBAN 46)

Unused subs: 
23  Adam FEDERICI
  4  Dan GOSLING
  5  Tommy ELPHICK
25  Sylvain DISTIN
 

Harry Kane was the major player in this match, but Spurs found Bournemouth a much easier obstacle than Borussia Dortmund, with the Cherries only having two shots all game and none of them forced Hugo Lloris to a save, as Kane's two goals and one assist helped Spurs to a comfortable 3-0 home win that keeps them on the coat-tails of Leicester City at the top of the table.  Almost as important to Tottenham's ambitions was the fact that Eric Dier completed the match without a booking meaning he will be free to play in the next league match at Liverpool.

It was a comfortable and controlled performance from Tottenham, but in truth, Bournemouth were less than poor and despite running around a lot and putting in a few 'over-enthusiastic' challenges, there was little else to commend them for.  And the comments former Gooner Benik Ofobe made last season about being a better striker than Harry Kane came home to roost, as his time at Wolverhampton Wanderers saw him play more games than Kane, but now he is in the big league he is finding it tough, while Harry goes from strength to strength.  Ofobe was substituted at half-time.

And Kane didn't take long to show what he is all about.  Having kicked off and the ball gone straight out of play over Lamela's head.  Bournemouth had a throw-in, but the ball was soon won back, Lloris played it down the right to Kyle Walker in space and his low bouncing ball into the box for Kane to sweep it home past Boruc to give Tottenham a 43 second lead !!  Cherries captain Simon Francis was tight not Kane, as he tried to be all afternoon, but he could not stop him sweeping the ball right footed across Boruc from the six yard line and into the far corner.  It was a fantastic finish and a fantastic start for Spurs, but had they scored too early ?

Fortunately, Spurs have learned that you need more than one goal to put teams away and they continued to move forward, as Bournemouth turned the ball over cheaply.  While Walker made the goal, Danny Rose was getting as much space on the left and he  was regularly fouled, with referee Swarbrick not punishing former Spur Adam Smith for a string of offences against the little Tottenham left-back.   He wasn't alone in getting the frighteners from the visiting side, with Dele Alli coming in for a fair deal of attention, but it had been Christian Eriksen who had been using flicks to by pass the lumbering Bournemouth defenders.  Kane joined in later and even Walker went so step-over crazy, he nearly beat himself !!

Tottenham's tactics of moving the ball one way and then hitting it long across-field left Bournemouth stretched and Alderweireld, Wimmer, Walker and Rose were happy to hit the long passes to open up some space.  It allowed the full backs to press on high up the field and also to get into positions in and around the box.  Walker hit a shot from 25 yards that went far too high (unlike his attempts last week at Villa) and it was the warning Bournemouth didn't heed.  When Spurs broke on 15 minutes, Dele Alli had Rose wide to his left in lots of space, but he ignored the obvious ball and slid a pass through the middle for Harry Kane to run onto.  Slightly left of centre, he got behind Francis and ahead of Cook to take the ball early with his left foot just inside the area, keeping it low across Boruc to send it into the bottom left hand corner of the keeper's net.  It was another instinctive finish and his link up with Alli is now really paying off.  The goal had started way back on the edge of our penalty area, with a string of passes to and fro across the back line, before Wimmer played  a crisp forward pass to Alli and then it was onto Kane and in the net.  A real team goal.

Would Bournemouth stage a fight-back or would they now settle for damage limitation ?  Would Spurs see the game safe in style ?  Well, there was little in response form Bournemouth to tell the truth.  Their fans sang a lot, chided us about having  library or something (local government cuts must have hit hard in Dorset I guess) and said Leicester City were better than us.  It would have been a long song had Spurs fans sung about who were better than them !!  Toby's diagonal ball put Eriksen away, but his shot went over the bar, then another move from the back to front saw Kane lift the ball over the Bournemouth back four to Lamela, whose shot was blocked.  

When Bournemouth did look like making an attack, Wimmer and Alderweireld were reading their minds and picked the ball off or Walker and Rose were stopping the moves out wide.  Dier and Dembele were also doing a lot of work making sure the opposition didn't get that far in the first place.  The defensive players also had free rein to get forward, with Dier trying a long range effort that got blocked and Eriksen put in a cross from the right to the far post, where Rose came in on it unmarked, but he could only hit it into the outside of the net.  Alderweireld hit a ball up to Walker, but Charlie Daniels (another ex-Spur) headed the ball in intercepting it, but it went straight up and when it came straight down, Kane smashed a shot straight at Boruc.

Kane almost returned the favour for Dele Alli, with a ball touched on from Dier's low cross.  Dele finished it clinically, but Kane's touch had put him offside and if he had left it, Alli might not have had the goal ruled out.  Five minutes before the break, the Cherries had their first effort on goal, when Cook rose to head an Arter free-kick over the bar when well placed.  It was only a short interlude before Tottenham took up the attack straight away and Eriksen played the ball to Alli outside the box and his low drive wasn't quite made with the best connection and the keeper got down to it fairly easily.  Just before the break, there was a great chance to go in 3-0 ahead, when Alli put Kane in on the right side of the box and instead of shooting for a change, he looked for Christian Eriksen on the left side of the area; just beyond the penalty spot.  It was a little too far ahead of him to reach it and Boruc was going that way, so would have been in front of him at close range had he met it.  Hugo had to punch away a free-kick just before the half-time whistle blew and the Spurs players trotted off down the tunnel with 45 minutes of work well done.

Pat Jennings was the half-time guest, who always gets a warm welcome, but the star of the half-time entertainment was the club's eldest season ticket holder, Irene McBride, who was 101 and started going to watch the team in the 1930s !!  The first half must have perked her up and we all hoped for more to come in the second period.  However, Bournemouth had obviously been given a rocket in their half-time team-talk and with a double substitution were a bit more lively after the restart, but they failed to make any sort of threat from the possession they had in the Spurs final third.

A free-kick for Bournemouth led to a corner and from that Spurs broke away through Eriksen and Walker ended up with the ball coming in form the right, but his shot was dragged across Boruc and went wide of the goal on the other side, when it would have been a good opportunity to test the goalie again.  Grabban was one of the substitutes for Bournemouth at half-time and he added a physical presence ... or should I say .

With 50 minutes on the clock, Spurs launched another attack.  Alderweireld lofted a ball forward, which was headed out, but only to Erik Lamela 35 yards out.  He turned to his right, laid the ball off to Kane, who drilled in a shot that bounced just in front of Boruc from 25 yards out.  Unfortunately, the keeper could only parry the ball straight out in front of him and not to the side of the goal, which allowed Christian Eriksen the simple task of slotting the ball back past him as he followed in just outside the six yard box.  It was a goal which gave Spurs the cushion and made the rest of the game more comfortable for them, when a goal for Bournemouth at 2-0 might have made the nerves jangle a bit.

The away side were still trying to recover some pride, with Smith getting forward down their right, with one run ending with Dier touching the ball away from him in the box, expertly not fouling him, but it ran to King, who looked to shot, but the ball was taken off his toe by ... Harry Kane !!  He's every-flipping-where !!  He was even on the end of the only foul deemed to be a yellow card when Francis took him out, when Kane's turn just over halfway embarrassed him into pulling him back unceremoniously.  What really deserved a yellow card was Josh King's late tackle on Wimmer long after he had played the ball away that left him needing treatment on his ankle.  He continued and was as good as he has been since he replaced Jan Vertonghen, missing through injury himself.  Will the Belgian be a shoe-in when he is fit again ... or will Poch stick with the Austrian ?

Bournemouth were aiming for heads in the box with crosses, but apart from one which found Grabban, who put it well wide, there was little success.  Dier had another go at goal, but was also wide with it and then sub Tom Carroll found Eriksen inside with two men around him, but his touch away from them left them confounded, but his square ball to Alli was scuffed wide.  Harry Kane set up Mason on the left, but the angle was tight, but he made Boruc save his shot anyway and then Mason turned provider, as Kane's shot was blocked and then Eriksen found Francis again in the ay as he looked to go for goal with the rebound.  When Kane had space to run into his effort from outside the box was dragged wide too.

In added time, Spurs kept the ball well and even crafted a chance for Eriksen, but his curler went over the top, but it didn't matter, as a good three points had been earned and we stay the nearest team in contention to Leicester.  The Foxes keep winning, but that is all we can do and hope they drop points somewhere, but it difficult to see where that might happen.  It was a very good performance today, but with Liverpool up next, who lost a 2-0 lead to lose 23- at Southampton, you wonder which Liverpool will turn up.  They will be up for it, as will the likes of Stoke, Manchester United and Chelsea among the res tin our last eight games.  With the players still looking energetic and playing with confidence, anything is possible, but we are reliant on others for our success now.

Ian Rodway