WE knew long ago that this season at Wanderers isn’t adhering to any script, and after last night’s heavy defeat, you certainly can’t rely on it having a happy ending.

All the ingredients were there – a tearful Fabrice Muamba back on the Reebok pitch saluting the two sets of fans that had cheered him from the brink of death just 47 days earlier, a Spurs team who had never taken three points from the Reebok and who haven’t been pulling up any trees in 2012.

But somehow Wanderers fluffed their lines, and after dragging themselves back into the game when Nigel Reo-Coker equalised Luka Modric’s brilliant opener, they were sunk by two pieces of counter attacking football of the highest order and then killed off by Emmanuel Abebayor towards the end.

The game took time to settle into a regular flow, with Spurs looking to exploit the pace of Aaron Lennon and Wanderers quite happy to counter.

It wasn’t quite the passionate encounter we’d probably expected and there was even a vague sense of frustration in the air as pass after pass went astray in the midfield, particularly when directed towards Martin Petrov.

The game’s first real chance fell to Rafael van der Vaart, who pounced on a mistake from Adam Bogdan to stab his shot goalward, only for the young Hungarian to spread his body and divert the ball to safety.

The feeling of unease wasn’t helped by Lennon and Bale’s growing influence in the game, and when the former had a shot deflected just over the top by Sam Ricketts, the Welsh wizard on the opposite flank responded with a surging run past Reo-Coker and David Wheater, only for no-one to get a killer touch on his low cross.

Had Dedryck Boyata’s delivery been equally inviting at the other end, then the Whites would have almost certainly taken the lead on 32 minutes.

The Belgian defender played a fine one-two with Ngog to get to the byline but with Kevin Davies and Petrov in space, the cross never arrived.

Everything suddenly kicked up a gear and with Petrov finally given some decent ammunition, his cross narrowly missed Kevin Davies and recycled by Eagles before Ngog’s shot was blocked by Brad Friedel.

Just 60 seconds after their best chance of the game, Wanderers were behind.

Bogdan had made a good block from van der Vaart but before a Whites man could scramble the ball for a corner, Spurs midfielder Sandro clearly handballed.

Referee Mike Dean thought otherwise, and when van der Vaart swung in the set piece, the ball could only be cleared to Modric, whose sweeping drive into the top corner was as sweet as any strike at the Reebok all season.

Wanderers had a penalty claim turned down as Ngog seemed to be wrestled to the ground by Younnes Kaboul. They had been far, far from their best but there was further evidence that the game wasn’t over yet when Kevin Davies headed into Boyata’s path, only for him to skew a shot over the bar just before the break.

Five minutes after the restart, the roof was well and truly lifted off the place as Boyata’s throw was flicked on by Kevin Davies – again dominant in the air – then back-heeled nonchalantly into the path of Reo-Coker by Ngog. The net rippled – and up in the directors’ box, the smile spread wide across Muamba’s face.

Touchpaper well and truly lit, Wanderers laid siege to Friedel’s goal. A series of corners were cleared over the crossbar, where Eagles then sent a dipping shot that looked destined for the net.

Just as quickly as their game had been raised, the Whites were undone by the classic sucker punch as Spurs broke down the left through Bale, who crossed low for van der Vaart to poke home his 13th of the season.

Sixty seconds later, it was a break down the right with Lennon, picked out majestically by Modric, and his cross was tapped in at the far post by Emmanuel Adebayor.

Coyle sent on Ivan Klasnic and Josh Vela to try and conjure another comeback, with Reo-Coker and Ngog making way.

As valiantly as the fans tried to lift their team again, it was no use, and 21 minutes before the end Adebayor stole in on Bale’s pass and seemed to have an age to round Bogdan and tap home the fourth.

Vela was perhaps lucky to get away with a yellow after diving into a challenge with Lennon – which sparked a touchline tussle between Coyle, Harry Redknapp and Joe Jordan.

But the fight has gone from Wanderers, who now have to summon something extra special against West Brom on Sunday and hope QPR don’t beat Stoke at home.