Victorious Vibes Restored

What a relief to see Spurs Women back in the win column! We avoided going the entire month of October winless. Scoring six goals was also a boost to morale—including Shekiera Martinez's first hat trick for the club.

But we can't read too much into a cup win over WSL2 opposition. It's straight back into league play this weekend with a visit to newly promoted Birmingham City.

In this issue: Bristol City recap | News from around the Lane

Spurs Men are also in league action this weekend with a Halloween derby match against Crystal Palace. Hopefully there won't be a spooky result!

On the club news front, there are a couple of contract extensions to celebrate.

Read on to catch up on an eventful midweek for Spurs Women.

Players Cup MD 3 | Bristol City 1 - 6 Tottenham

Hardy 43' | Martinez 14' • 24' • 78', Holdt 20', Gaupset 41', M. Nildén 49'

Spurs actually looked a bit wobbly in the opening minutes, with Selma Panengstuen seeing some action in her third cup game start of the season, but after Shekiera Martinez got the scoring started, the flow of the game went decidedly in our favor.

I won't go over the six goals in minute detail, but for a quick summary, they included: two chipped shots (one from Martinez, one from Signe Gaupset), one team effort with lots of passes (Olivia Holdt's finish), a sharp strike (Matilda Nildén), a scrappy rebound (Martinez again), and a finish under pressure from a cross (Martinez's hat trick topper).

The variety of attacking moves (especially for Martinez) was an encouraging sign after the low-scoring stretch of WSL games prior. It was also good to see Matilda Nildén scoring in a rare start; she made a strong argument for some WSL game time. Plus, with many of our fellow top-flight teams already faring well in the Players Cup league phase, it's important to boost our goal difference when we can.

Former Spurs player Esther Morgan sent in a nice cross that resulted in Bristol City's only goal of the game, but a lapse in concentration from the defense also contributed to losing the clean sheet. But for the most part, Bristol looked outmatched.

As if the glut of goals wasn't enough to make us smile, we also saw the return of Jess Naz from her ACL injury layoff—which ended up being only 325 days, not bad for the usual standard for a WSL player rehabbing from that injury. It was a bit perplexing to see her sub in for Ella Morris and indeed play at right fullback for the remainder of the game, but the important thing was that she got minutes in her legs and gained some familiarity with new teammates.

As I said before, we can't get carried away with a heavy win over lower league opposition, but there were still lots of positives to take away. In addition to Naz's season debut, several fringe players of the squad got much-needed game time, and Martinez gained some confidence in front of goal, while Panengstuen continues to prove herself to be a reliable backup keeper option.

Halfway through our league phase campaign, we sit in 6th place in the table—but several of the teams ahead of us (and below us) have already played their fourth match. We also have the joint-third-highest goal difference so far (don't look at Manchester United's... just don't). So we're in a very good position to progress to the knockouts as long as we continue taking care of business against our three remaining opponents; two of them are WSL2 teams, and two of the games are home matches.

Notable & quotable:

• Shekiera Martinez scored her first hat trick for Spurs.

• The goal conceded to Bristol City was our first goal concession of the Players Cup campaign.

• Martin Ho was full of praise for Martinez after her hat trick:

I’m delighted for Sheki. Coming into a new team and adapting to a different playing style and the way we do things, I think it’s been really good for her to get some goals and give her that kind of belief and confidence at this level, but also to have 90 minutes in her legs is important for her.

He also expressed excitement about Jess Naz's return to play:

It’s really good, not just for me but for everyone—the staff, the players, the club. She’s been here for a long time, she’s been through a tough time with the injury she’s had and now to see her back on the pitch, playing with a smile, the same energy and the same tenacity in her game, she’s going to be like a new player for us.

News from around the Lane

• Both Amanda Nildén and Cathinka Tandberg signed new long-term contracts with the club this week.

Nildén has been with the team since January 2024 and has adjusted to playing at centerback this season. Her new deal shows that the club is prioritizing experience alongside the injection of youth into the squad in recent seasons.

Tandberg's contract extension is another show of faith in the young striker after she earned the #9 over the summer when Beth England departed. However, she still has a long way to go to live up to the previous owner of the iconic shirt. Hopefully securing her future at the club will allow her to continue developing in confidence.

Up next:

October 31 | Spurs Men vs Crystal Palace
Team news — Destiny Udogie is available after missing the last two matches; James Maddison will also be available after an injury scare last match; Lucas Bergvall, Tosin Adarabioyo, and Sávio are all still out with injuries; Rodrigo Bentancur will be serving the final game of his three-match suspension

November 1 | Spurs Women @ Birmingham City
Team news — No changes to the previous injury report, with Olga Ahtinen still out for a few more weeks

I don't want to jinx it, but this could be our first double Spurs win weekend in quite a while (I actually went to fact-check, and it was September 26/27 when Spurs Men won in the League Cup against Charlton Athletic and Spurs Women beat Aston Villa in WSL play).

Crystal Palace advanced in the Men's League Cup midweek but haven't won a Premier League game since October 11. They've also been shut out in their last two PL games. So this is a big opportunity for Spurs Men to continue the positive momentum from the last couple of games and hopefully add another clean sheet to Antonín Kinský's tally.

Spurs Women also have a favorable opponent in Birmingham City, back up in the top flight but fortunate to have been promoted alongside a worse team in Charlton. They're only out of the relegation playoff spot on goal difference at the moment, so they do have motivation to grab another result. They also have one of the early Golden Boot contenders, Océane Hurtré, who only lags behind Bunny Shaw by two goals at the moment—impressive for a newcomer to the WSL proper. She's very dangerous in transition opportunities. Longtime watchers of the league will recognize Birmingham's goalkeeper, Sophie Baggaley. But coming off such a positive result in the cup, I expect Spurs to take all three points here.

No midweek match for either team next week, so I'll be back for the usual Friday issue again, hopefully writing about two Spurs wins!

COYS

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