The Carling Cup game between Preston North End and Tottenham Hotspur at Deepdale on Wednesday Sept 23, 2009.
A trip to deepest, darkest Lancashire in the Carling Cup to face Championship opposition and pit his wits against one of Scotland's latest managerial prodigies. Harry Redknapp, as Tottenham's team bus rumbled into another quiet mill town, will not have enjoyed the sense of déjà vu.
It was just 25 miles or so down the road, of course, that, in January, Burnley came within the finest of whiskers of denying Harry Redknapp's side their ! second consecutive Carling Cup final appearance with the most improbable of comebacks. Then, only two extra-time goals saved Tottenham from humiliation. Redknapp obviously had no intention of enduring another dramatic night in the north.
He sent a side out capable of calming his fears, and by half-time, much of the work was done. Goals from Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe, both clinically executed, doused the hosts' spirited start and no doubt dismissed any sense of foreboding on the touchline. There were times, though, when Redknapp's blood pumped a little quicker, his heart beat a little faster.
As if the lure of a giantkilling was not enough, Preston had the added incentive of doing what Owen Coyle's side just could not. Jon Parkin, their very own beast, hassled and harried and Ross Wallace prompted and probed. Within 40 seconds, as Parkin's deflected shot from Heurelho Gomes's poor clearance dribbled wide, Redknapp ! will have known he was not in for an easy night.
! Ditto Ir vine. Giovani Dos Santos, who lasted only 18 minutes of a rare start, hit the bar five minutes later after collecting Gareth Bale's cross 10 yards out. The chance served as a warning. Where Preston missed their next chance – Gomes acrobatically saving Billy Jones's header – Tottenham did not. Another Bale cross evaded Preston's backline and found the outstretched, telescopic leg of Crouch. Such is the difference between top and second tier.
Preston, though, remained unbowed. Parkin forced Gomes to tip one fizzing shot over before Darren Carter spurned two wonderful opportunities carved by the left foot of the supercharged Wallace.
The former West Bromwich player dragged one shot wide after Steve Elliott laid the Scot's long ball into his path, then could only swipe at the most welcoming of invitations from Wallace when the winger's clever cut back picked him out unmarked by the visitors' makeshift defence – with Tom Hud! dlestone slotting in alongside Michael Dawson - on the penalty spot.
Tottenham, again, made them pay, this time Defoe wriggling clear of both Youl Mawene and Liam Chilvers to nod the ball home, at the second attempt, despite the slightly serendipitous heroics of Andy Lonergan. Premier League teams, even in a somewhat weakened state, do not offer reprieves.
Drama, seemingly, averted. Crouch added a third, his second, in the dying minutes, tapping home Aaron Lennon's low cross as their hosts tired, their resolve gradually ebbing away. One flying Gomes save from a Wallace free kick aside, Tottenham minds started to wander, the away end's odes now of previous triumphs and future successes, all the way to Wembley.
Such thoughts, of course, are not without risk. With five minutes to go, substitute Chris Brown tapped home Neil Mellor's scuffed shot. The tension returned, albeit briefly. Redknapp bolted from his dugout, anxio! usly conducting the final few minutes, until Robbie Keane a! nd then Crouch, with a clever backheel to earn his hattrick, killed off any anxiety and all resistance.
Match details
Preston (4-5-1): Lonergan; Hart (Chaplow 52), Mawene, Chilvers, Nolan; Elliott (Mellor 78), Jones, Carter, Shumulikoski, Wallace; Parkin (Brown 78).
Subs: Henderson, Proctor, Smyth, McLaughlin.
Booked: Nolan.
Tottenham (4-3-1-2): Gomes; Hutton, Dawson (Corluka 80), Huddlestone, Bale; Bentley, Palacios, Jenas; Dos Santos (Lennon 18); Defoe (Keane 70), Crouch.
Subs: Walker (g), Naughton, Dervite, Rose.
Booked: Hutton.
Referee: P Dowd
