Spurs by the skins of their teeth

Coming to the end of our holidays here in France and after a short day of walking some 13kms around Monaco, I made it back to our rental to watch Spurs battle Everton in the final Premier League match of the season.

It should never have come to this, but a win or a draw was necessary to stave off relegation and with West Ham winning 3-0, we could not afford to lose.

It was a match which offered mostly one way traffic from Spurs but this season has had enough counter attacking disappointments that the nervous supporter could take nothing for granted. Kinsky made a crucial late save to fully redeem his performance in Madrid and Paulinha’s goal, just barely knocked over the line was the difference between two very different futures.

The Championship is not a league I would have wanted us to play in. A team built to compete in the Championship League was never going to retain the talent we have to play second division domestic football. Roberto di Zerbi did the business keeping us up but his job has been made so much easier next year by being back in the Premier League.

As for West Ham, Jacob Steinberg’s excellent piece in The Guardian describes how West Ham are in serious peril as they fall for the first time in 23 years. We so narrowly avoided that fate although we are much better positioned to return had we been relegated. Still. Sunderland and Leicester and ahandful of other teams can tell you that the path to hell begins at the gates of relegation, especially if your management isn’t up to scratch.

I’ll be home in a few days although travelling again to Ontario for work, but my sporting focus now becomes TSS Rovers as our shortened season enters its final five weeks of play. The men’s team are chasing Langley United for the title agains but we need them to drop points. For the women, a team that has gone through a squad transition sits mid table but even in defeat plays outstanding football. They really are a joy to watch.