Red and White Heart Lane

Thirty years is a long time without winning at White Hart Lane, thankfully we hadn't read the same script that occupied many a Sunderland side when visiting North London over the last three decades. Winning any game in the Premier League is extremely rewarding, but so much more satisfying when it's completely deserved and against what some people might call superior opposition.

Last season we were praised for our hard-working 'never give up' mentality, this style of play won us a lot of games and effectively kept us in the division. However with the new campaign only two games young I can already see a dramatic improvement of quality from our players, and when complimented with the hard-working nature of old, it can prove to be quite an effective formula for success.

Prior to kick-off not many people would have gave us much chance of a victory. Despite an encouraging performance last week against Liverpool, when faced with the threat of new arrivals Modric and Bentley, it would have been easy for a lot of people to mark down home win for this encounter.

Thankfully we hadn't read the script. After last season's defeat to Bolton in May, Roy Keane angrily suggested a lot of this players were on their final chances; this was surely aimed at Kieran Richardson, who put in a disgraceful performance and as a result didn't feature in our remaining game against Arsenal. And it is fair to say Keane's warning has changed Richardson's attitude dramatically, with him being our best performer in both games so far, and finally working his way to repaying the money and faith Sunderland as a club have shown in him.

Richardson put in the kind of dynamic performance that would guarantee an England call-up, provided it was week in, week out. The man clearly possesses the talent, he dominated Jermaine Jenas through out his time on the field, beating the spurs midfielder to every ball and every tackle. Then he effortlessly shook off his advances to fire in a spectacular effort to give us a deserved lead. If anything this type of performance proved too much, with Keane relieving him of his duties shortly after the goal, could other managers now think, contain Richardson for an hour and Sunderland are beat? Nonetheless it was refreshing to see him finally realise his massive potential for Sunderland. Long may it continue.

Tottenham are known for their flair in the middle of the park, players such as Modric, Jenas and Bentley have the ability to unlock any defence and with space and time can cause serious damage. But this responsibility seemed to be on the shoulders of Andy Reid, Steed Malbranque and Kieran Richardson, not the Tottenham trio. At times they played in their own world of football, effortlessly stroking the ball across the park, and performing the type of one touch, into feet play that can cut defences open at will.

Regardless of how good Tottenham are, when you enter their half there is always a chance you will create an opportunity due to their open attacking style of play. I felt Ramos let his team down with some poor pre-match tactical decisions, he omitted anchorman Huddlestone from the side which effectively meant Jenas and Modric had to retreat to protect the back four, meaning their talent was wasted and we could ultimately capitalise.

It was no coincidence that he immediately brought Huddlestone on after we had scored, and as a result I would say Tottenham were transformed. Huddlestone's ability to sit in front of the back four and basically clear up loose ends finally gave Modric the freedom to push forward and actually cause us problems, which he did. In fact it was his manoeuvring run and shot in the box that led to Jenas following up with the equaliser, now if Huddlestone hadn't been on the pitch would both of those players have been in Sunderland's penalty area? The answer is no.

After the equaliser came it was obvious Tottenham were strong favourites to build on the momentum and grab the winner. And that is why immense credit must be given to our players, who refused to lie down and be rolled over, with Nyron Nosworthy and Danny Collins in particular limiting Darren Bent to one half chance in the entire game, thus stifling Tottenham's main threat of attack.

When reflecting on the result it is even more satisfying to think that we performed so adequately without the services of Pascal Chimbonda, Teemu Tainio and Kenwyne Jones, who if fit would have been in the starting line-up. Also the imminent arrival of Anton Ferdinand would pose a welcome dilemma for Keane due to our back four being excellent so far, meaning competition for places would be rife, which is exactly what you need to be successful through out a long draining season.

Other reasons to be happy include the performance of debutant Djibril Cisse, who with virtually his first touch nodded in the winning goal. His display, albeit short, reminded me of Fernando Torres' last week at the Stadium of Light. The Spaniard lived of little chances but when the opportunity arose, there was never any doubt he would convert, after that game I wrote about the need for a striker, hopefully Cisse has answered this call. Granted it is very early days for every team in the Premier League, but clinical finishers don't come along very often and whether it be August or May, a player of Cisse's talent should be a massive bonus to our chances of progressing.

Now that this game is finished we have to keep things in perspective, even though we have made a very encouraging start to the season against two difficult opponents, the minute we start thinking we are something special is the minute we begin to decline. Thankfully Roy Keane will share this opinion and should keep his players focused on the task in hand.

It was thirty years since we last won at White Hart Lane and no doubt we will have similar records at virtually every ground in the Premier League. Therefore with the promise this squad has shown so far, there should be no reason why some of these embarrassing statistics can't finally be laid to rest.

James Henderson
www.a-love-supreme.com