Tottenham Women keeper Tinja-Riikka Korpela is a seasoned professional in the art of game management. And on a sunny bank holiday Sunday, it took the Finland international less than 15 minutes to suffer the guttural boos of a deeply rankled Manchester United crowd at Leigh Sports Village for her exorbitant wasting of their precious WSL minutes.
Not that Korpela’s wry smile betrayed much remorse. If Spurs were to take anything from current league leaders United in the former’s ever-growing fight for survival, they'd need to employ all angles.
For half an hour, that blueprint looked dead-on, but as the final whistle blew on a comprehensive 3-0 defeat, those of Spurs' leaning were left to wrestle with the threat threat of relegation, or if a season-defining match against bottom-of-the-table Reading in two weeks' time will see them emerge on the right side of the top-flight margins.
