Tottenham Women ended their season with a bang, dispatching London rivals West Ham 3-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Bethany England’s early strike was cancelled out by a superb equaliser from Riko Ueki, but late goals from Jessica Naz and Drew Spence sealed the win for Spurs.
There was no FA Cup final heartache hangover for Tottenham, who found themselves ahead after just four minutes when a horrible mistake from Mackenzie Arnold gifted England the chance to volley home unopposed into the bottom left corner to make it 1-0.
Rheanne Skinner’s Hammers ventured sporadically into Tottenham’s half but they never looked likely to cause Spurs any danger in the opening 30 minutes.
In fact, they nearly put the ball in the back of their own net, as Amber Tysiak’s headed block from a Tottenham cross curled dangerously close to the top left corner.
From that same corner, Spurs should have made it 2-0 as Arnold completely misjudged the height of Evelina Summanen’s delivery, leaving Charlotte Grant completely free at the back post to cushion her header against the upright.
The Australian international managed to redeem herself minutes later with a strong outstretched leg to deny Martha Thomas, and a quick reaction save to push a heavily deflected shot wide of her near post.
And West Ham had their first major attempt five minutes before half-time through Viviane Asseyi.
The 30-year-old brought down Anouk Denton’s cross and attempted to swivel and shoot, but her connection wasn’t sweet enough to cause Becky Spencer any concern.
West Ham started the second half in cracking fashion, with Ueki hauling her side level with a stunning strike into the bottom left corner from outside the box after five minutes.
However, a severe lapse in concentration from West Ham meant they almost gifted Spurs the lead straight from kick-off.
Within four passes of the restart, England found herself through on goal, but with a rush of blood to the head, she blazed her effort straight into the stands.
The woodwork then came to West Ham’s rescue twice in the space of 10 minutes as Amy James-Turner and England hit the crossbar and post respectively with their headers, to the relief of West Ham’s captain.
However, West Ham’s fortune finally went into hiding as Tottenham broke the Hammers resistance on 86 minutes.
Fresh substitute Naz snuck her way past Tysiak and fired the winner into the bottom left corner on her 101st Spurs appearance.
Nine minutes of added time gave the travelling West Ham fans hope of a late equaliser, but Drew Spence had other ideas – cutting in from the left and firing a fierce effort into the top left corner to wrap up the season with three points.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here