Double for Defoe puts Stevenage in place Harry Redknapp had said that Jermain Defoe needed to take his first-team chances at Tottenham, and the striker certainly did last night. Defoe scored two and helped to make the other as Tottenham eventually overcame a very competitive Stevenage 3-1 to set up a home FA Cup quarter-final with Bolton. After a dispiriting 3-1 defeat to Manchester United last Sunday, Redknapp made nine changes. He felt their benefit: Defoe, in a rare start, took Spurs' first and third goals with characteristic precision. Gareth Bale, also returning to the team, was a constant threat, creating both Defoe goals and combining with him to win the penalty which Emmanuel Adebayor converted. It was not as comfortable as that might sound. The costs of bringing in a player for only this third start of the season were made very clear to Redknapp just four minutes in. Joel Byrom darted into the area, quicker than Ryan Nelsen expected, and was tripped. It was Byrom who stepped up and coolly struck the ball past Carlo Cudicini. Tottenham's start got worse when Michael Dawson landed awkwardly after jumping for a header. Holding his knee, he was carried off and replaced by Kyle Walker. The centre-half was taken to hospital with suspected ruptured ankle ligaments. Stevenage were never likely to come to Tottenham and open up, but once ahead they held their shape with military discipline. They fought for every tackle, taking their lead from the ferocious captain and centre-back, Mark Roberts. Jon Ashton's leap from Lawrie Wilson's free-kick was unmatched by any of Spurs' defenders. Ashton's header sailed beyond Cudicini but inches wide of the far post. Giant-killing is a task with fine margins, though. It took less than a minute for Stevenage to be punished for the miss. Bale took the ball at left-back and fired a long diagonal pass towards Defoe. The striker took the ball down with his right foot, let it bounce before whipping it in with his left. Neither Bale nor Defoe had been particularly decisive but sometimes, even in the Cup, technique can make the difference. Few strikers are brought alive by goals quite as much as Defoe, and minutes later he nearly scored again. Bale, this time on the right, crossed with the outside of his left boot. Defoe and Chris Day challenged for it, but the keeper blocked the shot. Spurs were still hoarding possession but their rhythm was further disrupted when a hamstring injury forced Aaron Lennon off. On came Adebayor, who was soon denied by a crucial Roberts tackle. But the football, even without the injuries, would have frustrated Spurs enough. They had to improve in the second half, and they did. Just three minutes after the restart they had a delightful goal disallowed. Walker flicked the ball to the overlapping Younes Kaboul, whose fierce cross was back-heeled in at the near post by an off-side Defoe. Bale's new fondness for running inside has its critics, saying it has more to do with attention than productivity. But one such dart sent Spurs ahead: the Welshman came in from the wing, exchanged passes with Defoe and ran to the byline, where he was felled by Roberts. Michael Oliver awarded his second penalty of the evening, and Adebayor dispatched it. With 15 minutes left, simple bad defending cost Stevenage. The provider, again, was Bale. Not with a quarterback pass, this time, but a hearty throw-in down the line. The away defence stood off as Defoe collected in the inside-left channel, shuffled inside and curled the ball right-footed into the far corner.