CCFC 0 v 1 TOTTENHAM

We don't get the opportunity to play Spurs very often and I passed up the chance to see them back in 2007 on a stinking rain-sodden Saturday in January. It was the 3rd round of the FA Cup on the 30th anniversary of a famous victory.

On that momentous day in 1977 a Spurs side that included the legendary Pat Jennings in goal (big hands, even bigger hair) a young Glen Hoddle controlling their midfield with an unruffled mulleted bouffant nonchalance and featuring legendary comic book comb-over king Ralph Coates charging down their left wing leaving a trail of dandruff and brylcreem-lashed defenders in his wake, were beaten by a Peter Sayer goal, as beguiling in its execution as it was unlikely - a gem which for a couple of weeks was given a lead role in the Match of the Day opening titles.

27,000 witnessed the events that day. Before the year was out relegated Spurs would be back at Ninian Park to play out a 0-0 Divison Two bore-draw in front of barely 8,000 fans.

The FA Cup victory was made all the sweeter by the fact that the winner was provided by local boy Sayer, the product of a scouting system that until the Academy was established regularly allowed the best local talent to be poached by other clubs. And those that we did manage to catch inevitably took the bait when the big boys came fishing.

Of course there's no greater indictment of the failure to spot emerging local talent than allowing young Gareth Bale to be whisked away from the Cardiff Civil Service under-10's by Southampton. You might have thought that his Uncle Chris (Pike) might have said something! Surely it couldn't have been too difficult to persuade Frank to put him the number 23 into town instead of driving him to the south coast every weekend.

As it is, the £85 million that we might have trousered for the sale of the Whitchurch Wunderkind has funded a revitalised Tottenham team that looks capable of mounting a serious challenge this season as they strive to reclaim past glories. I wouldn't normally quote Gary Lineker but he may have got it right when he said that his beloved Spurs had 'Sold Elvis and bought The Beatles'.

We walked up to the ground in the unsolicited company of a Norwegian Spurs fan who'd clearly spent the day acquainting himself with Mr Brains' finest. In a Scandanavian slur he was keen to tell us that on his 5th birthday his uncle gave him a birthday card signed by Erik Thorstvedt the Norwegian and Spurs goalie. 'And I've-a-been a Totten-a-ham fan ever since. Smorgasbooooord. Morten Harket.'

We pointed Erik (whose intoxicated gush about the quality of his team was in danger of making us late) in the direction of the (seriously) away fans and reached our seats just in time. Bloody Vikings!

As it turned out Erik and Lineker weren't far off the mark. It was apparent from the start that Spurs were the best footballing team to visit the CCS so far. They attacked at pace and with a flair and panache that will see them challenge for a top four finish this season.

But what the opposition had in elegance and natural ability we matched in commitment and tenacity and might be considered unlucky not to come away with a point. Certainly the game's two pivotal moments went against us. After 6 minutes Campbell took the ball on the edge of the penalty area only to have it stolen by the despairing hand of keeper Lloris. Outside the box. The incident saw a trademark Malky dash down the tunnel to check the video replay and return incandescent with a rage to match the very worst of Mr Tan's sartorial indiscretions and mercilessly berate the fourth official. If you've seen the TV highlights you'll understand why.

Referee Clattenburg has form. In Feb 2007, he was sent down to the Championship and placed in charge of our game against Leeds. He had an absolute stinker, getting all the main decisions wrong and sending off Chopra and Simon Walton (whatever happened to him?) I might have been sympathetic to another official but this incident and Turner's disallowed goal just before half time made it personal.

Tactically the game was similar to the Man City and Everton games. Malky's strategy is clearly one of containment against the top sides with the two banks of four across the back closing down the man with the ball and denying space and time to the opposition in the box. When Spurs did have opportunities they found Marshall on top form, producing a number of world class saves.

The match stats might suggest almost total domination in terms of territory, possession and opportunities for the opposition but many of their attempts were speculative and as the game wore on were borne of frustration.

In fact we had opportunities to take the lead particularly in the second half as Whittingham and Bellamy fed dangerous low crosses into the box just beyond Campbell who was replaced by Odemwingie just after the hour. The former Baggie making his debut provided a fresh impetus, finding space in the box and curling one just past the far post, then finding Gunnarsson with a perfect pull back only to see the Iceman lose his cool and fire over the bar from 7 yards.

Spurs introduced £30 million man Erik Lamela with 20 minutes to go. With that sort of quality in reserve you feared the worst but it was the City who finished the stronger with Kim in particular continuing to panic their back four into conceding possession and dispatching inelegant clearances into Row Z.

A hard fought draw seemed the likely and highly creditable outcome as the Fourth Official held up his board. Then with two of the four minutes played, Lamela pulled back a cross just behind Paulinho, the Brazilian back-heeling past Marshall to finally break the deadlock.

The soporific Spurs fans looked over their half-moon specs and dropped their library books in surprise as they rose to acknowledge their victory. The Canton End had tried all afternoon to provoke the detached indifferent north Londoners with classics like 'You're just a bus stop in Arsenal' etc. to no avail. The Premier League's most dispassionate unassuming fans would surely approve of Peter Whitingham's understated description of this cruel defeat as 'annoying'.

As annoying as it certainly was, the game also produced a number of positives. Medal, Caulker and Kim continue to excel at this level and the introduction of Odemwingie emphasised our relative strength in depth. Malky the pragmatist has built a squad capable of deploying the tactics required to compete against the very best. With a couple of games coming up against less fancied opposition it will be interesting to see if we're capable of changing the emphasis from containment to utilising our undoubted pool of talent in a more expansive game. Taking 4 points from Man City, Everton & Spurs is just about acceptable; 4 points from Fulham, Newcastle & Norwich would hint at a long season ahead.