Tottenham capitalised on numerous defensive errors to beat London City Lionesses at Brisbane Road and secure fifth place in the Women's Super League.
Victory - Tottenham's 10th of the season - ended a run of four matches without a win and secured a club record points haul in the WSL with 33, surpassing the 32 they amassed in 2021-22.
London City, who have won only twice in 12 matches since the start of December, remain in seventh.
Signe Gaupset opened the scoring for the hosts, picking Malou Marcetto's pocket as she dawdled on the edge of the penalty area, and slotting home past a diving Elene Lete.
Olivia Holdt doubled the lead, whipping a right-footed rocket from distance into the top-right corner after a slip from Delphine Cascarino gifted Tottenham possession.
Both goalkeepers were kept busy in a scrappy second half, with Tottenham's Maika Hamano seeing a long-range effort ricochet off the crossbar and onto the goal line shortly after the break.
London City rained efforts down on Lize Kop's goal and substitute Alanna Kennedy, who had a sweetly struck volley saved late in the first half, scored from close range to set up a tense finale.
Kop denied Freya Godfrey in stoppage time to earn three points for Tottenham.
In their final home game of the 2024-25 season, Tottenham lost 1-0 to Chelsea, which left them languishing in 10th place and without a win since January.
Although they finished the campaign with a draw at Everton, they slipped to 11th on goal difference - the nadir of their time in the WSL.
Fast forward 12 months and it is a contrasting scene at Brisbane Road. With a derby win over London City, Tottenham finished in the top five for only the second time.
Under Martin Ho, Tottenham are more secure at the back, conceding 37 goals so far - including only 12 at home - compared to 44 last season.
Although Kop was denied a seventh clean sheet, she made several big saves, including three in five minutes late in the first half.
Up front, Spurs are less reliant on departing record goalscorer Bethany England, with Holdt matching her seven goals for the season and summer signing Cathinka Tandberg scoring six.
For all the positives from Ho's first season at the helm, there is a sense of what might have been.
At the end of December, Tottenham, who won six of their opening 11 games, were only four points behind second-placed Chelsea, and remained in the hunt for European football until mid-February.
However, a run of three defeats and one draw meant their season fizzled away.
Opportunities have been missed, perhaps most notably when they threw away a 3-0 lead against Manchester United to draw 3-3.
With about six players expected to leave this summer, including talismanic club captain England and lively midfielder Hamano, improving on this campaign will not be easy.
But for now their focus is on celebration, with the biggest cheer of the day reserved for England's final bow in front of her home crowd.
