FULHAM did their best to have their say in the great final day of drama – giving Spurs the jitters as the north Londoners chased the win they needed to have a chance of pipping Arsenal for third place.

But in the end, it was all academic in a game which ended in near silence from two resigned sets of fans.

The Whites were not quite able to land a telling blow as the home side's greater incentive gave them the edge and Spurs' win was not enough to take them above Arsenal into the one guaranteed Champions League spot.

The mood inside White Hart Lane ebbed and flowed with each scoreflash from the West Brom v Arsenal game. For a while, home fans were hopeful as news filtered through that the Gunners were 2-1 down.

But for the last half an hour, Spurs fans went quiet as it became clear that their great north London rivals were leading. It was all very subdued. Not even Fulham fans had cause to pipe up, with neighbours QPR beating the drop at Man City.

Martin Jol, making his first return to White Hart Lane since his sacking as boss of Spurs five years ago, was looking forward to a carefree afternoon - a top half finish already assured. But his mood probably changed within 90 seconds of the start.

That is all the time it took for Emmanuel Adebayor to leave Aaron Hughes in his slipstream as he exchanged passes with Rafael Van der Vaart and calmly tuck past an exposed Mark Schwarzer.

It could have got worse for the Whites when Luka Modric's shot broke off a defender for Gareth Bale and Schwarzer had to get down to block the Welsh midfielder from close range.

Van der Vaart then sliced a left foot shot off the outside of his left boot that passed the right side of the post as far as Fulham were concerned.

But from those unpromising beginnings, Jol's men began to pass their way back into contention and Spurs stopper Brad Friedel was twice called into action to deny Fulham an equaliser.

First John Arne Riise (pictured) scampered through the middle after collected a pass from Mahamadou Diarra and unleashed a powerful drive after the space opened up in front of him.

Tottenham's keeper did well to keep it out and still Riise awaits his first goal in Fulham colours.

An even better opening was fashioned when Damien Duff squared to Dembele on the edge of the area and the Belgian's low drive had Friedel fearing he had not got enough on the ball to end the danger. It needed an alert William Gallas to clear before Pavel Pogrebnyak – operating as a lone striker - could latch on to the rebound.

On the hour, Dembele hit a beautiful shot that glanced off the foot of a post, as the Whites tried to make light of the absence of top scorer Clint Dempsey.

But three minutes later, the game was as good as up when Jermain Defoe, who had just come on for Van der Vaart, buried a ball that broke kindly to him eight yards out after Aaron Lennon's hopeful shot from the right had ricocheted off Riise.

There was a late flicker of life from Jol's men as Duff struck a post and Dembele fired an arrow that Friedel had to help over the bar. But the outcome was never seriously in doubt.

Line up: Schwarzer; Kelly, Hangeland, Hughes, JA Riise; Duff, Diarra, Murphy (Kasami 67), Dembele, Frei, Pogrebynak. Subs not used: Stockdale, Senderos, BH Riise, Gecov, Briggs, Trotta.

Attendance: 36, 256

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