If Spurs were looking for some indication of the kind of season that might be ahead of them, they will have been mighty pleased with their pre-season safari to South Africa.


Will the £16m invested in Darren Bent prove sound? An emphatic yes. Have Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane maintained their goal-scoring prowess from last season? Another emphatic yes. And is the French connection - aka Adel Taarabt, Younes Kaboul and Pascal Chimbonda - going to work effectively? A third emphatic yes.

As warm-up games and preparatory work go, this must have pleased manager Martin Jol. Spurs fans will see the 2-1 victory over Orlando Pirates in Cape Town as the signal to snap up a bit of that 66/1 available for the Premiership title. Hugely optimistic, that one, but there might have been a few hints in regard to the big question: Can they squeeze their way into the top four? It's early days, but the signs are there.

'The pleasing thing from Spurs' point of view was that Berbatov and Keane found the back of the net, reinforcing the view that they will be Jol's No 1 pairing in the Premiership'


The Pirates tested them by coming out with all guns blazing. Pity they forgot the bullets! If they were looking to repeat their winning 2-1 scoreline from four years ago they were to be disappointed. Jol selected what might well turn out to be his best eleven, as he had done against the Kaiser Chiefs on Saturday in Durban.

It took Bent only 11 minutes to open the scoring, running on to a high ball from Kaboul to lob the goalkeeper quite neatly. But the real star for Spurs was Taarabt, who had the Pirate defenders chasing shadows all night with his dazzling skills and ball control. Unquestioned candidate for the Man of the Match award.

Giant £7m defender Kaboul was rock-like when the Pirates tried to counter and he showed enough to prove that he will be a much-needed asset at the back. And he's not afraid to venture forward, as the crowd were quick to appreciate when he thumped a 30-yard free-kick that rattled the crossbar.

Thanks to some eye-catching approach work by Joseph Makanya and Lebohang Mokoena, Orlando kept the home crowd buzzing with hope and they couild have equalised when Makanya found himself one on one with the Spurs keeper, but the chance was lost through lack of composure. At the other end Tom Huddlestone wasted a chance for Spurs, side-footing wide after Bent had created the opening.

The home side gave the Spurs back four a thorough going over before a swift counter attack produced a second goal for the visitors. Bent and Jermain Defoe combined for Steed Malbranque to cross and Wayne Routledge to score, but it has to be said it was one of the few contributions that Defoe made to the game. With Bent. Berbatov and Keane as the main spearhead, I fear Defoe is destined to spend most of the season warming the bench.

Pirates did manage to pull one back near the end through a thrice-taken penalty after  Chimbonda had pulled down Excellent Walaza. Cerny saved the first spot kick from Walaza down to his left and the re-taken one by the same player down to his right, before Kamwendo slotted home, but Spurs held on.

This was a good follow up to the first game in the Vodacom Challenge which resulted in a 2-1 victory over Kaiser Chiefs, notable for an incident in which Bent's former mate at Charlton, Shaun Bartlett, collided with Kaboul as he tried to head clear a low ball and put him out of the game with a few lost teeth.

The pleasing thing from Spurs' point of view was that Berbatov and Keane found the back of the net, reinforcing the view that they will be Jol's No 1 pairing in the Premiership. Now the two South African team will meet in a play-off to meet Spurs in the final on Saturday.

Perhaps we have seen enough in two game to suggest that Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez will not dismiss Tottenham's chances of reaching the top four too hastily.