Robertson came diving in headfirst to try to make a catch, at the s

TORONTO -- Toronto FC fans got to see the man of the moment, England forward Jermain Defoe, wear the captains armband against his old club, and perhaps a glimpse of the future in Canadian teenage striker Jordan Hamilton. It was the 18-year-old from Toronto who got on the scoreboard in a losing cause as Tottenham defeated Toronto 3-2 in a soccer friendly Wednesday on the strength of an 85th-minute goal by Andros Townsend. Andrew Wiedeman and Hamilton had scored second-half goals to pull the home side even before a sellout crowd of 22,591 on a warm evening at BMO Field. Lewis Holtby set the table for the Spurs winner, driving towards goal before finding Townsend who curled a shot past Quillan Roberts, another homegrown teenager. Argentine midfielder Erik Lamela scored twice for Tottenham in the first half before Toronto shot back in a far more competitive and entertaining second after the teams combined for 17 changes at the break. "It was a different game," Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said of the second half. It was only the second pre-season game for Tottenham, with Pochettino reminding his post-game audience that "for me, its another training session and its game that was good for our supporters, to show our improvement." In the first half, Toronto seemed to have one eye on its weekend league match with defending MLS champion Sporting Kansas City. Defoe got virtually no service from his teammates and found himself having to take up the role of playmaker to get something going. The England star was substituted at halftime, one of seven changes by manager Ryan Nelsen. Veteran Dwayne De Rosario took over as captain and told his crew that change was needed. "I just told the guys we didnt come here to spectate," De Rosario said. "This is our field, this is our home. We have to take it to them. I think we did that in the second half and we were able to put them under pressure and force them to cough up the balls where we could attack and counter-attack. We started to build confidence from that." Said fellow second-half substitute Nick Hagglund: "We came in with the mentality to really press them and make them play well. And I think when we did that, we showed that theyre human, that they make mistakes, just like us." On a night where he was on the marquee, Defoe was largely on the outside looking in. Defoe, 31, played 362 times in two stints with Tottenham before departing for Toronto FC in January. He scored 142 goals for Spurs, fifth on the clubs career scoring list. Ironically Defoe just hit No. 5 on Toronto FCs all-time MLS scoring chart with 11 goals in 14 MLS games -- evidence of the franchises past scoring woes. He said playing Spurs was strange but enjoyable. "I suppose when I finish football and I look back on these memories and really reflect and think You know what," (about) all the years at Tottenham -- its a special club with special fans. A good bunch of players. Nice people," he said. Defoe, balancing a plate of salmon, chatted with old Tottenham friends after the match before returning to the Toronto locker-room to do his media duties. The game was part of Defoes transfer agreement, which also featured a marketing deal between the two clubs. Its attention that the England striker clearly wouldnt mind doing without. "I just love playing football," he said. "I always have done. I think at the age of 31 to still wake up in the morning and still enjoy training and look forward to every game, I still get the same buzz. And to me thats important." Then again, he is making US$6.18 million this season, with the two cellphones sitting in his locker proof that he is by no means a hermit. Spurs controlled the first 45 minutes against a makeshift Toronto lineup, controlling possession for long stretches and then dispossessing Toronto when the home side got it back. Tottenham outshot Toronto 10-0 (3-0 in shots on target) in the first 45 minutes. Toronto, with six Canadians on the field, had a much stronger second half. Spurs again had more shots (10-5) but the home side had more on target (3-2). Wiedeman cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 65th minute. Rookie winger Daniel Lovitz, one of the bright spots for Toronto, made the goal by pouncing on a Tottenham turnover and driving towards goal before opening up the defence with a through ball to Wiedeman. Hamilton tied it up in the 73rd minute, capping off passes from Hagglund and Wiedeman with a clinical left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty box. It was the first goal for Toronto for Hamilton, who has been playing for the Wilmington Hammerheads of the USL Pro league this season. "Hes someone who impressed me from Day 1," said Defoe. "Strong, has a nice left foot and he can score goals." Nelsen said the loan to Wilmington has done wonders. "Weve seen a change ... Hes acting like man not a boy and he played like it today." Hamilton was humble afterwards when asked about his performance. But he clearly believes he has more goals in him. "I hope I have a lot more and a lot bigger ones. It was just a friendly but it was great to score my first goal for Toronto," he said. Lamela, who had one goal in a disappointing injury-shortened 2013-14 season, was one of 10 players withdrawn at halftime by Tottenham. The 22-year-old former Roma player reportedly cost Spurs a club-record 30 million pounds (C$55 million). The game came at an inopportune time for Toronto, squeezed between league games against Houston and Sporting Kansas City and in a month packed with eight contests. Toronto, already missing defenders Steven Caldwell and Mark Bloom and Brazilian winger Jackson through injury, essentially fielded just four regulars -- defender Doneil Henry, midfielders Dominic Oduro and Collen Warner, and Defoe -- in its starting 11. Goalie Joe Bendik didnt dress and star midfielder Michael Bradley did not stray from the bench. Goalie Chris Konopka, defenders Jeremy Hall and Ashtone Morgan and midfielder Lovitz have a combined two MLS starts between them this season. Konopkas MLS log reads two games in five seasons with four teams and he looked rusty. The 29-year-old was replaced by 19-year-old Roberts, who has also been playing for Wilmington. Roberts, who has yet to see MLS action but has now played against Roma, Liverpool and Tottenham, made several good saves. Lamela opened the scoring in the 16th minute on a pass from Roberto Soldado and a nice dummy from Aaron Lennon that froze the defence. The Argentine midfielder, who showed his flair from the get-go, then beat Konopka with an angled shot into the corner. Lamela made it 2-0 in the 40th minute from a similar spot after slick passing from Lennon and Soldado sliced open the home defence. Spurs opened their pre-season last Saturday with a 3-3 tie with the Seattle Sounders before 55,349 at CenturyLink Field. Their North American trip wraps up with a Sunday game in Chicago against the MLS Fire. Tottenham finished sixth in the Premier League last season with a 21-11-6 record. It kicks off this season Aug. 16 at West Ham. College Jerseys Black Friday .cas NHL Play of the Year showdown continues today with a man whos spent most of his career on highlight reels and a goalie actually "reaching back" for a save. Cheap College Jerseys . An in-person hearing allows for Garbutt to be suspended for five games or longer as per the leagues Collective Bargaining Agreement. Garbutt delivered a high hit to Penner in the second period of Sundays game. https://www.fakecollegejerseys.com/ .Y. -- As if the worst start in franchise history isnt bad enough, Buffalo Sabres President Ted Black braced his teams win-starved fans for potentially more tough times. Fake College Basketball Jerseys . They were right in that they responded to coach Randy Carlyles goaltending switch to erase a two-goal deficit. Wholesale College Jerseys . "Weve given ourselves now a tougher task," said Carlyle after the Friday practice, the Toronto head coach notably chipper and upbeat throughout. "But the bottom line is we just have to win our share of games [and] not worry about what anybody else is doing.DETROIT -- On a day full of bad news on the injury front, at least the Texas Rangers could enjoy a victory. Shin-Soo Choo homered, Chris Gimenez had four hits and the Rangers rolled to a 9-2 victory over the slumping Detroit Tigers on Thursday. This was supposed to be Prince Fielders first game back in Detroit after the Tigers traded him in the off-season, but the big first baseman didnt make the trip because of a herniated disk in his neck that could keep him out the rest of the season. Fielder is expected to have surgery Tuesday. General manager Jon Daniels announced that after the game. Manager Ron Washington had already finished talking to reporters by then. "You just want to go out there and give yourself a chance, hope your pitching staff gives you a chance," Washington said. "We understand not every day were going to be able to put nine runs up, especially against this team." Yu Darvish (4-2) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings, striking out six and walking three. The Rangers broke through quickly against Detroit rookie Robbie Ray (1-1), who lasted only 3 1-3 innings. Ray allowed seven runs, nine hits and four walks, and the AL Central-leading Tigers lost their fourth straight. Ian Kinsler, who was traded to Detroit for Fielder in an off-season blockbuster, went 1 for 3 in his first game against the Rangers. The Tigers breezed to a 27-12 start before being swept in a three-game series at Cleveland. Star right-handers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer were both knocked around in that series, and a 13-inning finale against the Indians taxed the bullpen. Rays start Thursday made the situation even worse, and infielder Danny Worth ended up pitching the ninth inning for Detroit. Worth, throwing a knuckleball, actually struck out two in a scoreless frame. "That was a lot of fun," Worth said. "Obviously, you dont ever want to be needed in that spot, but once I got out there, I enjoyed it." Alex Rios opened the scoring with an RBI double off Ray in the second, and Gimenez drove him home with a single. Adrian&nnbsp;Beltre added a two-run double the following inning and later scored to make it 5-0.dddddddddddd In half of Darvishs first eight starts, the Rangers failed to provide a single run of support. That wasnt a problem Thursday. Choos two-run homer in the fourth chased Ray, and Michael Choices two-run single later that inning gave the Rangers a nine-run lead. Gimenez had never even had a three-hit game before Thursday. Not only did he contribute offensively, but he also had little trouble behind the plate. It was his first time catching Darvish and his tricky array of pitches. "He let me do whatever I wanted to do," Darvish said through a translator. "So I felt really good." Texas has won back-to-back games for only the second time this month, but the Rangers injury woes remain a major concern. It looks like they will be without Fielder for a while, and in the third inning, centre fielder Daniel Robertson hurt himself in an outfield collision. Robertson came diving in headfirst to try to make a catch, at the same time Rios came sliding in from right. Replays showed a wad of gum popping out of Robertsons mouth when the two players collided. X-ray and concussion tests were negative. "Its a hard play, its a hustle play," Robertson said. "If we were to do it 10 times again, Id make the same play." The Tigers lead second-place Minnesota by 4 1/2 games in the division, but theyve allowed 31 runs in their past four games, an uncharacteristic spell for what might be baseballs best starting rotation. Detroits starters have allowed 19 earned runs over a three-game span, the first time thats happened since May 24-27, 2011, according to STATS. The last time a position player pitched for the Tigers was also in 2011, when Don Kelly did it. NOTES: Detroits extra-inning loss to Cleveland on Wednesday took 5 hours, 16 minutes. Thursdays game looked as if it might stretch past 4 hours for a while, but it sped up toward the end and was over in 3:30. ... Detroit RHP Anibal Sanchez (1-2) takes the mound against Texas RHP Scott Baker (0-0) on Friday night. ' ' '