Stevenage FC 1–8 Tottenham Hotspur on 13 July 2001

Gus Poyet made a memorable start to his Spurs career - but even his first half masterclass was upstaged by Steffen Freund's first goal for the club.

Any T-Shirt manufacturer on site would have made a killing by knocking up a few thousand 'I saw Steffen score' shirts and the midfielder's delightful strike, a perfectly executed dink over the goalkeeper, capped what was just about the perfect start to pre-season.

Few fans could have failed to have been impressed by Poyet. He rifled a blistering effort just over in the opening exchanges before curling his opener in off the post from a 20-yard free-kick after just eight minutes.

He was there again to bury a Les Ferdinand knock down 20 minutes later and with just 30 minutes on the clock he completed his hat-trick with a volley into a corner after another Ferdinand assist.

Both sides played different teams in each half with both Poyet and Goran Bunjevcevic making their debuts in the first half.

Bunjevcevic looked a class act on the ball but would have been less pleased with his contribution in the home side's brightest moment - he dragged down Williams for a penalty that Hamsher slotted home.

It was 5-1 at the interval and the second half was more evenly contested until a late burst produced three more goals.

The sixth was the one to remember. Iversen released Freund who coolly clipped the ball over Hassell for his first goal - in all competitions - in a Spurs shirt having joined us in January 1999.

Young striker Yannick Kamanan grabbed the last two to complete a job well done.

Here is a run down of the goals:

8mins: Poyet marked his debut with his first goal for Spurs, a free-kick curled in off the post from 20 yards. 1-0.

17mins: Penalty awarded for Bunjevcevic tug on Williams. Hamsher slotted spot kick home. 1-1.

21mins: Ferguson latched onto Ferdinand flick and made no mistake from close range. 2-1.

27mins: Bunjevcevic pass to Ferdinand, he helped ball onto Poyet who buried from five yards. 3-1.

30mins: Etherington's corner headed back by Ferdinand and this time Poyet volleyed home from 12 yards for his hat-trick. 4-1.

37mins: Ferguson latched onto Etherington's cross, turned sharply and slid ball under keeper. 5-1.

Half-time: Stevenage Borough 1-5 Spurs.

78mins: Iversen released Freund who delightfully dinked the ball over Hassell and watched it agonisingly creep over the line. 6-1.

80mins: Jackson low cross to near post swept home by Kamanan. 7-1.

85mins: Iversen shot from Barnard cross superbly saved by Hassell, Kamanan buried rebound. 8-1.

Final score: Stevenage Borough 1 Spurs 8.

Line-ups: Spurs: 1st half: Sullivan, Piercy, Etherington, Toner, Thelwell, Bunjevcevic, Davies, Poyet, Ferdinand, Clemence, Ferguson.

Stevenage Borough: 1st half: Wilkerson, Hamsher, Sturgess, Goodliffe, Trott, Arnott, McMahon, Walters, Campbell, Williams, Nazha.

Spurs 2nd half: Kelly, Taricco, Jackson, Perry, Hillier, Consorti (Barnard, 85, Freund, Sherwood, Anderton, Iversen, Kamanan.

Stevenage Borough 2nd half: Hassell, Hamsher, Sturgess (Duckett, 70), Smith, Sodje, Arnott (Abbott, 65), Armstrong, Clarke, Morgan, Hay, Nazha (Bridge, 75).

Attendance: 5,914