Saturday, 20th December 1997
White Hart Lane

	Tottenham Hotspur	3	VS	0	Barnsley
Walker, Calderwood, Fox, Neilsen, Anderton (Domingues, 70), Ferdinand (Iversen, 46), Carr, Ginola (Clemence, 88), Wilson, Sinton, Campbell.			Attendance 28,232 Referee M D Reed	Leese, Eaden, Appleby, Moses, De Zeeuw, Redfearn, Liddell (Hristov, 67), Tinkler, Barnard, Ward, Markstedt (Bullock, 46).
Subs not used: Baardsen, Mabbutt.				Subs not used: Watson, Sheridan, Hendrie.
Booked: Dominguez				Booked: Appleby, Ward, Eaden, Moses.
Goal Scorer: Nielsen 6, Ginola 12, 18

David Ginola scored twice to crown a classy individual performance as Spurs lifted the gloom over White Hart Lane and boosted new boss Christian Gross with his first home win against bottom-of-the-table Barnsley.     And although Danny Wilson's hapless team escaped another familiar mauling which had looked on the cards after three Tottenham goals in the first 17 minutes, long-suffering Spurs fans were at least able to head for home contemplating a fairly merry Christmas after all.     After six defeats in their previous seven games had sent Tottenham tumbling in the bottom three this was their make or break test against a side already looking destined for an instant return to the Nationwide League ranks.     And although the goal that sparked their early rush was tinged with controversy, Spurs found enough in the locker to comfortably outclass visitors who had no more than sweat and toil as their main attributes - and certainly not enough to contain the elusive Ginola.
Denmark's Allan Nielsen was first on the mark however, when he ran unhindered through the penalty area after just six minutes to slam home Darren Anderton's through ball with the Barnsley defenders standing still appealing for an offside flag that never came.     And the match was all over as a contest when within the next nine minutes Ginola registered a double that took him to seven goals for the season and confirmed him as Tottenham's single most inspired hope to drag them clear of the relegation zone.     Ginola had considerable assistance from Barnsley's German goalkeeper Lars Leese when he hit the second Spurs goal after getting room on the edge of the penalty area to get on the end of a link between Neilsen and winger Ruel Fox.     The Frenchman's shot was deliberately delivered towards the far corner but without much power and it was a surprise when Leese allowed it to squirm under his body.
There was no stopping the third goal however, when Ginola, having started a slick five-man move that swept the ball from halfway line to corner flag from where Fox delivered a perfect cross. The former Newcastle ace powerfully headed into the top corner.     Spurs' fans sat back and waited for the rout and it would have come but for misplaced shots by Colin Calderwood and Les Ferdinand when they appeared unmarked in the penalty area to connect with Ginola's corners.     But Barnsley somehow saw out the rest of the first half without further damage and visibly grew in confidence after the break and Spurs seemed to relax and also miss the thrust of Ferdinand who had gone off with an injury.     Long-range shooting by Neil Redfearn and Darren Barnard kept Spurs goalkeeper Ian Walker on his toes and alarm bells began ringing when Barnard raced down the left and found substitute Georgi Hristov unmarked in the box.

The striker blazed well over from only eight yards and Tottenham pulled themselves together again     Steffen Iversen, a hard-working substitute for Ferdinand, twice went close to converting the chances that Ginola continued to create.     Then he laid back an Andy Sinton cross for Neilsen to strike a volley which clipped the outside of a post.     Barnsley incurred four bookings as they battled to keep down the margin of defeat and there was a measure of satisfaction in their second half performance but they will still need a major injection of class and strength to rescue what now looks an almost impossible task to stave off the drop.     For Spurs however, the prospects are suddenly much brighter although Christmas matches against Aston Villa and neighbours Arsenal will again test the new regime of manager Gross.

	See the goal...		Nielsen 6'
			Ginola 12'
			Ginola 18'
	Hear the goal...