Spurs still in spot of bother as Bolton draw

TOTTENHAM can only pray that their unnecessary replay with Bolton does not go the distance and end up being decided on spot kicks at White Hart Lane.

With Jermain Defoe, who has missed six of his last 10 penalties, now relieved of that responsibility, Tom Huddlestone wasted the opportunity to put Spurs into the last eight yesterday, with a flat spot-kick that was saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen.

It was the fourth miss in their last five attempts and the only man to have managed to score for Tottenham from the spot this season, Robbie Keane, who converted in the 5-0 win over Burnley and the 4-0 FA Cup victory over Peterborough, is now north of the border at Celtic.

Unfortunately for the Londoners, Huddlestone’s wastefulness blew Spurs’ chance of finally coming away from the Reebok Stadium, where they have now won just once in 12 games, with a positive result.

First-team coach Joe Jordan admitted Tottenham need to start taking their chances from 12 yards.

“We have not been too lucky with penalties,” he conceded.

“Tom does it differently in training when he puts power into his penalties but he tried to place it. But when a penalty is saved you have to give credit to the keeper. We need a bit more practice, I think!’’

Tottenham may yet live to regret their wastefulness from 12 yards but Bolton’s goal proved that football can break out at the Reebok Stadium at times under new manager Owen Coyle.

They had battered Tottenham for the opening half hour, with Johan Elmander running himself into the ground but showing his usual lack of composure in front of goal, while Heurelho Gomes was forced into a decent low save from a curling Matthew Taylor free kick.

But the deserved breakthrough came in some style. The move started with Jaaskelainen and included a total of 17 passes, climaxing with Chung-Yong Lee threading Elmander through to cross for Kevin Davies to touch in for his sixth goal in seven games against Spurs at the Reebok.

However, Bolton paid the price for failing to kill off Harry Redknapp’s side and the visitors showed the kind of resolve that is not associated with them in these parts to get back in the tie.

Peter Crouch beat Jaaskelainen to head on to the bar from David Bentley’s cross and a minute later Wilson Palacios’ cross rebounded off Paul Robinson and on to the woodwork.

The pressure was mounting and on the hour, Tottenham made their breakthrough thanks to the work of the outstanding Gareth Bale. Gretar Steinsson allowed the Welshman space to dart into the area and he crossed for Defoe to fire in his 21st goal of the season.

Jaaskelainen pushed away a drive from Niko Kranjcar and kept his team in the competition with a fine save from the spot from Huddlestone.

Referee Phil Dowd had little choice but to award a penalty after Sam Ricketts handled from Crouch’s attempt to lift the ball over the Bolton defender but Huddlestone stuttered in his run-up and Jaaskelainen guessed right to make the save.

Coyle was furious with his players for not sealing a win before half time and although they now have to travel to White Hart Lane for a replay, Kevin Davies feels that the draw was an indication that Bolton can now take on even the most fluid of opponents at their own game.

“We’ve proved we can out-play them,” Davies said. “The amount of chances we created gives us hope. We’ll go down there and give it a good go. We’re still in the hat.’’

REFEREE: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire) 7. Got the penalty call right and had a role in what was a flowing cup tie, although Bolton had the usual complaints about Davies’ treatment.

MATCH RATING: ****

Not many here to watch it but this was what the cup should be about, with both teams going for broke, particularly in the exciting second period.

Man of the match: Kevin Davies (Bolton). Still the pivot for all of Bolton’s best work, the striker that every defender hates is bang in form.