Haringey Huskies 2, Guildford Phoenix 5
Saturday 10th October 2026
I will never tire of meeting fans around the rink.
There are so many passionate, enthusiastic, knowledgeable people who share in the support of this club that we all know and love, and we are fortunate to have the supportership that we do.
Many bigger hockey fans than me, many bigger Haringey fans than me, and it was lovely to meet a few more on Saturday (don’t worry, I won’t reveal where the best place to stand around the rink is, your secret’s safe!).
I am tired of watching us lose to Guildford though.
We’ve seen the Huskies lose in innumerable ways to the Phoenix over the years, and this is probably one of the most forgettable. I expected us to take the game to Guildford far more than we ever did, and it ends up a bit lacklustre.
We tried something different, starting Max McEwan and George Hagon, with Matt Ganas, Courtney Grant, and Robbie Rejna up top. High energy, perhaps?
It’s a very scrappy, attritional start for both teams. Not a lot of quality, not many big chances. Robbie rushes onto a miscontrolled puck in the offensive zone, only to find his shot blocked from the slot.
It’s a surprise when Guildford take the lead after three minutes. Sol Stoodley allowed to walk and finishes low farside. From nothing. He had another chance later in the period which was filthy, he was a menace all game.
Conor Pollard finds James Pentecost from behind the net but he’s muscled out. Pete Tóth sees his shot blocked from the blue line. Five minutes gone, and barring the goal there’s been nothing else of note.
Courtney wins the foot race and centres for Matt who can only swipe at air. George draws a blocker save with a wrister from the left. A decent chance but no more. Stuart Appleby has a look, before Chris Beckett lifts it from the crease after everyone loses sight of it, but it’s held.
The game is racing by without much happening, nine left in the first.
Ryan Payne shoots wide from the blue line. Courtney does the same and Matt can’t connect on the rebound. Marton Szasz battles to keep it in the zone, finds Chris who moves it on to Stu whose one-timer from the slot is gloved. Better from the Huskies.
Guildford hit the bar at the other end. Chris stalks on the forecheck. Pete makes an important block at the hashmarks. Matt might have equalised at the end with a chance at each post but it won’t stick. More work to do in the second.
Guildford should make it two straight away, Haringey all over the place at the back, it comes to the free skater in the slot and it’s an outrageous stick save by Luke Clark to keep it out. No right to save that really.
The Phoenix do score early on though. They shift it back across the slot from the corner and it’s rifled in with a onetimer top corner. Moving the puck too quickly and sharply for the Huskies to keep up with at the moment, all game really.
But it’s an instant response, and on the powerplay. We establish possession in the o-zone, and Courtney puts a bomb on net from the point with Marton in front to send the redirect into the back of the net. 1-2, game on.
Max picks it up and drives forward. He plays a really positive brand of hockey and often his first thought is getting the team up the ice, and did this several times throughout the game. He finds a pass but we can’t get a shot off.
Courtney has a good opportunity on the breakaway but gets caught in two minds. He has Stu alongside him but opts to shoot nearside and it’s saved.
Ruskin Springer Hughes has two tries from the slot, both wide then Nathan Long hits a slapshot that’s held. Robbie carries down the right, centres it to Matt who can’t beat the netminder, it’s close but I think it gets trapped under his skate.
Guildford extend their lead with nine left in the period. It’s a scrappy goal on the breakaway, Huskies get back in numbers, Clarky makes the initial save but it’s spilt and slammed in from the doorstep. 1-3.
Haringey respond with another powerplay goal though. This time it’s Chris, who races off the bench and it’s a snipe from the right, under the glove maybe? It was a long way from where I was standing! Something must have happened though, an injury perhaps, as the Phoenix change netminder and Dmitrijs Volkovs replaces Jacob Stoodley.
Guildford have an amazing knack of always finding the free skater in space. It’s worked to them at the slot again and Clarky stands tall to make the save. Pete does well to force Phoenix forward Josh Abbott wide and put him off. George goes to ground, sliding towards his own net and doesn’t initially know where the puck is but eventually clears the zone.
A close game so far but by no means a vintage encounter. Both sides spurned big chances. You’d like more in the final period from Haringey who aren’t clicking yet.
Ruskin’s put through, holds off two Phoenix players, drifts across the slot and tries to squeeze it farside round the netminder but he’s shoutout.
Moments later it’s a mirror image of what happened at the other end, but Josh Abbott makes it stick. He drifts across the slot, and rounds Clarky,finishing low between the post and outstretched skate. 2-4 with 18 on the clock.
Max has another coast-to-coast but runs out of road. Clarky has a couple of saves to make, one from the point, another from the left. The last big chance we carve out falls to Matt. Courtney skates away down the left, finds Matt in the slot but he can only fire wide.
From this point on the game is essentially done.
Richie drops the gloves and picks up a game misconduct penalty and a five plus two for his troubles. I don’t blame him at all, we needed something to liven us up at that point in the game. But the penalty basically kills it.
The Phoenix put 32 shots on net in that final period, and I’d imagine a good chunk of those came in the last 10 minutes when we were down to four skaters.
It’s a valiant effort, but we rarely threaten and spend a lot of time fighting fires, trying to keep Guildford out. But they get their fifth on the powerplay, unsurprisingly. With five left in the game it’s a sublime setup, moving the puck and Haringey players all over. It comes to the point, diagonally across the slot to the backdoor and ripped home by Josh Abbott for his second of the night.
It peters out after that, and we finish with four skaters as Nathan sits for roughing, ending any last vestige of hope for a very late, very unlikely comeback.
It’s disappointing. It’s disappointing because I don’t think we turned up. Aside from their shaky start to the year, Guildford remain a very good side but they’re not world beaters, or at least they didn’t have to be on Saturday.
We needed more composure in front of net and didn’t test their backup netminder anywhere near enough for my liking, with only nine shots to deal with.
We must be mindful that October doesn’t get away from us. Peterborough have still only played three games, and there is a huge incentive for them to rock up next weekend and really spoil the party. Invicta are flying. Bristol are scoring like it’s 2022/23.
Look forward to seeing you all there, regardless.
Let’s Go Huskies.
Photos: Luke O’Donovan
