A fortnight ago, I was wondering what Slough Spitfires would bring on their first game in South 2. I certainly didn’t expect that.

They were fast, they were organised, and they played like they had a point to prove. I thought Slough were great. But for a few loose passes in the first five minutes, they could easily have been two up. They absolutely flew out the gates. We give up chance after chance, and there’s a big miss at the back door which should have punished us.

With some key injuries and players out, it was nice to see a couple of familiar faces in Stephen Woodford and Benet Beldecos ice for the Huskies again.

We slowly start to get a grip on the game and put some moves together. Stuart Appleby finds Conner Smith across ice but his shot from the left is a swing and a miss. Ryan McFarlane feeds Ruskin Springer Hughes who’s saved down low to the right. Conner rips from the left to force a save, the puck out of bounds. Better from Huskies.

Haringey have been opting for more forwards on the power play having only one or no recognised D men. I noticed this against Oxford too, and on Saturday they lined up with Stu, Conner, Rob Rejna, Ruskin, and Casey Wilson. A more aggressive approach perhaps, to try and overload the opposition.

They get their reward. It’s on the power play, but it’s Benet who puts it across the slot for Will Nowik to slam home the one-timer at the back post. 1-0 Haringey.

It’s a very physical game, lots of hits, lots of aggro and chirping. Benet’s far too strong and quick and forces a Slough player off the puck heading towards his own net, sits the goalie down and slots bottom right. 2-0 from seemingly out of nowhere.

Dylan Philips makes a fine save from the left wing, and up the other end Rob picks out Stu at the back door who’s denied by the outstretched skate of the Slough netminder. Ryan Payne has a look from the right point blocked.

With less than two minutes in the period, Haringey force the issue. Ruskin with some serious hands along the boards puts it on a plate for Rob in the slot to finish for his first goal of the season and 3-0. Seconds after the restart Woody pokes home from the doorstep to make it four.

There’s hope for Slough at the end though. Less than a minute left on the clock, and Slough win the draw and rip it from the hashmarks beyond Dylan. It’s maybe 5-hole but I can’t see from that distance. A shame. A bad way to end what grew into a good period for the Huskies.

We start the second on the penalty kill. Luke Martin, Pete Toth, Ruskin, and Stu. Ryan Payne puts it on net from centre ice. Oli Cooper and Conner link up across lines but can’t find a shot at the end of some slick passing.

Slough get another back after five minutes. A shot from the blue line comes through traffic and is initially saved by Dylan but it’s dropped and creeps over the line for 4-2.

Haringey keep pushing though, and they still feel on top in the game, still creating, still a threat. Benet goes through 1-on-1, but the goalie stands tall and saves from the right. Moose can’t find Bradley Taylor at the backdoor after a fine breakaway. Woody’s all tenacity and speed, steals the puck but is saved nearside. Carl Etuazim finds Moose from behind the net but his one-timer’s blocked.

Haringey pull away again, and again it’s Will who fires a wrister high into the net from the slot. Great timing for the goal at the end of the second.

The start of the third is awful, though. Haringey lose possession in the offensive zone on the power play, the puck’s turned over and Slough race away down ice to score shorthanded on the breakaway, 30 seconds into the period. 5-3. Yuck.

The Spitfires creep closer again, 5-4 with a wrister from the left that goes across goal and top right. They get parity soon after with some poor defending from the Huskies who don’t deal with the puck near the goal and it pops out into the slot, finished hard and low and it’s 5-5. A scrappy goal to concede and 5-2 feels a lifetime ago.

It’s a frustrating game in some ways, although we get the win. At times we look irresistible, in others it’s as if this is our first game as a team, not theirs. At 5-2 we should be shutting it down and seeing it out, but three Slough goals in six minutes turn the game on its head.

It’s a fraught and frantic end to the game, both teams pushing for the winner. But Haringey clinch it. It’s a similar assist to his first one, Ruskin cuts in from the left, holds off the Slough player and drops it off for Benet at the crease who scores low, wheeling away in celebration. A very, very hard fought three points.

I couldn’t make it to Sunday’s game. Planet Ice Peterborough hasn’t been a happy hunting ground in recent years. It’s proven very difficult to take points away from there, and Sunday was no different.

I think lost in the sideshow is the fact that we dropped our first points of the season. Despite Haringey going 0-2 up, Peterborough seemed to be free scoring and it ends 6-3.

In South 2 you can’t have too many of those, not if you want to be lifting something in April. You certainly can’t let many teams take six points off you, and it will be interesting to see the complexion of the league when Peterborough visit the Palace in February for the return fixture.

And the rest of it: as a fan I think it’s disappointing, it’s embarrassing. Much has been done recently to make this a slicker operation, more professional, and this does nothing to help that cause.

The upshot is the club’s being talked about for all the wrong reasons. I think they did the right thing in making the statements and letting both Luke and Bradley go. We’ve lost two guys and the rest of the team now have to deal with that. They’re going to have to put this behind them very quickly and refocus on winning hockey games.

September’s done. Three wins from four.

We get to do it all again with Slough this coming Sunday. I’ve never been to the Slough Ice Arena, so it’s a new one for me. Now we know what to expect, Haringey are going to have to be at it again if they want to take anything away from the game, that’s for sure.

Get back to business. Less drama.

Let’s Go Huskies.

Photo: Phil Hutchinson