Seven-goal thriller at Arsenal ends in victory

A brace from Bethany England inspired us to victory over Arsenal in a seven-goal thriller at Meadow Park on Saturday afternoon.

Martin Ho’s second game in charge, it was a pre-season test full of action as we found ourselves 2-1 down at the break, our captain scoring in between Victoria Pelova’s opener and Charlotte Grant’s own goal, however a relentless second-half performance saw us come out on top.

England levelled the scoring from the penalty spot before Matilda Vinberg put us in front for first time three minutes later and, although Caitlin Foord found an equaliser for the hosts, we reinstated our lead 13 minutes from time after Eveliina Summanen’s free-kick found the back of the net, earning Ho’s first win in Spurs colours.

Away from the result, there was also a special moment for Kit Graham who, after nearly 12 months out of action with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, returned to the pitch for the first time as a second-half substitute, rounding off a positive afternoon in pre-season.

We had to weather some early pressure in front of a well-packed crowd in Borehamwood, as Arsenal struck the woodwork twice in a matter of seconds. Pelova’s effort from just inside the box crashed against the underside of the crossbar before Alessia Russo, on the rebound, saw her header bounce off the top of the bar. However, we couldn’t hold off the hosts in their next wave attack on six minutes as Pelova latched onto Emily Fox’s ball forward before drilling low from the right area of the box past Lize Kop at her near post.

Kop was called in action shortly after to tip Katie McCabe’s free-kick from the far right over the bar but, on 14 minutes, we grabbed an equaliser as England showed great anticipation to capitalise on miscoummication inside the hosts’ box before firing into the roof of the net from close range. Drew Spence sent a header over the bar while, at the other end, Mariona Caldentey fired a free-kick from around 25 yards out narrowly wide of the post before they had the ball in the back on the net just after the half hour mark, Grant turning home Beth Mead’s low cross past Kop.

Rybrink went close in the final minute of normal time, heading over from a corner, as we looked for a response after the break. And we certainly delivered that inside the opening quarter-of-an-hour of the second period, England calmly converting from the penalty spot on 59 minutes after Clare Hunt was brought down, before three minutes later, Vinberg put us ahead in the contest for the first time, drilling low into the bottom far corner after a clever flick from Spence to set the forward through on-goal.

Arsenal responded once again on 74 minutes as substitute Caitlin Foord raced behind our backline, using her strength to get away from Clare Hunt, before firing low past Kop from inside the box. But that didn’t dampen our spirit and, three minutes later, we retook the lead as Summanen’s free-kick from around 25 yards out escaped the palms of Anneke Borbe and into the back of the net. We went close to adding a fifth of the afternoon in stoppage-time when Rybrink looped an effort over the bar from close range, as we withheld any late pressure to claim an impressive win in pre-season ahead of our 2025/26 Barclays Women’s Super League opener next month.

Match data

Goals: Arsenal – Pelova 6, Grant OG 31, Foord 74; Spurs - England – 14, 59, Vinberg 63, Summanen 77.

Referee: Matthew Norton.

Venue: Meadow Park.

Weather: Cloudy, 21 degrees.

Attendance: To follow…