Haringey Huskies 7, Basingstoke Bison 1
Saturday 3rd October 2026
What’s that Gretzky quote? “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
On Saturday Haringey took this very much to heart and proceeded to take all the shots. Every single last one of them. I’m pretty sure they were still shooting as fans filed out of the building.
That first period in particular was just carnage. Relentless, insistent, unremitting shooting. Everything was flung on net, from every angle in every way. From the point, the hashmarks, the crease, tips in front, slapshots, snipes, the slot, round the net, nearside, backdoor, everything.
Kayla Poole was sensational in the Basingstoke net and got much appreciation from the Haringey fans. It’s criminal that she didn’t get Player of the Game. 38 shots faced in the first period and only gave up one goal. Unbelievable.
We’d put Basingstoke to the sword 9-1 in our first game of the season, but it looked for a long while like this was going to be a very different game.
Petr Čech featured between the pipes, with Richie Pickering next to Jaden Boolkah, and Marton Szasz, Stuart Appleby, and Chris Beckett on the top line.
Haringey are at it from the get-go. Everything and anything is thrown on net, and you can count on one hand how many times Basingstoke have possession in the offensive zone. Chris Beckett has a wrister kicked out from within seconds of the face off, and Haringey are soon on the powerplay.
The Huskies still operate with just one out-and-out D-man, aiming to overwhelm the opposition and it’s Jaden and Ruskin Springer Hughes who take up position at the points this time. Jaden shoots from the right but it’s covered and Basingstoke kill the penalty.
They have their first chance of the game, chipped wide from the crease after a feed from the corner, then Leo da Souza Saoncella races onto the puck at the other end and rings iron across net from the bottom of the D.
Haringey continue to hammer away, and Kayla Poole has already taken a couple of shots to the mask in the Basingstoke net, dealing with everything the Huskies sent her way.
It’s a complete shock that Basingstoke take the lead after five minutes. Worked to the right and it’s a scramble nearside and poked home from the crease. Very much against the run of play but the Bison don’t care.
Robbie Rejna plays a lovely wall pass round the corner to Matt Ganas who fires a wrister from the left.
Richie Pickering hits a slapshot straight from the faceoff that whistles fractionally wide of the far post. Chris fires over from the hashmarks. Nothing sticking for Haringey so far.
A new face in the Haringey lineup, Rebecca Voslinsky featured having impressed for the juniors and Queen Bees IHC. On every shift she never put a foot wrong, hard on the forecheck and was unfortunate not to get an assist in the third, but Stu couldn’t convert from the slot.
Haringey put her alongside Jordan Liddell and Stephen Woodford which I thought was very sensible.
Nathan Long carries at speed, drops to George Hagon who hits the slapshot, Rebecca picks up and recycles back to Nathan at the point who has his shot kicked out. Ruskin has a couple of looks, both wide of the mark.
With eight minutes left in the period Haringey finally get the breakthrough. James Pentecost’s in the right place at the right time to send the puck into the back of the net from close in. The Basingstoke resolve broken at last.
We finish the period strong. Many more chances, Marton Szasz with a golden opportunity at the backdoor which he can’t put away, but Basingstoke and Kayla Poole continue to frustrate and it’s kept 1-1.
The second sees much of the same.
Conor Pollard hangs behind the goal line putting it out in front, but no one can beat the netminder. Max McEwan gains the zone, glides past two but shoots wide.
It’s a strange game at times. For all our dominance I thought we were made to look blunt early on. A lot of chances but nothing cutting through. It wasn’t until Basingstoke started to tire that we could really capitalise. It’s no coincidence that goals two and three also involved something a little different.
When we moved the netminder instead of trying to beat them for pace with the puck we got a lot of joy. Conor finds Ruskin across the slot and he’s got the whole goal to aim at as he hits a one-timer low and in for 2-1.
Five minutes later and it’s the same again. Conor to Ruskin, across the slot and poked home at the back post. A nice connection growing between those two.
Nathan with the poke check, stands his ground and brushes off the Basingstoke forward. Matt shoots low and wide from the slot. He was trying all game and was unlucky not to bag himself a goal. Jaden goes 5-hole but no dice. Petr makes a grab from centre ice.
It was three goals in the second and it’s another three in the third.
Richie works it D to D from right to left and finds Chris who scores with a snipe across goal on the powerplay. A sublime finish to make it 4-1.
Number five, for me, was the pick of the bunch. A minute later and the Huskies move the puck through the zones, up to Matt who drops it off for Conor, heads to the net and finishes nearside. A brilliant team goal and some lovely north-south hockey.
Stu gets number six for Haringey, which I missed. Basingstoke have a few chances, but Petr is a match for all of them. Cam Pow winds up on the blue line but it’s blocked. He shows great strength in the corner to come away with possession and out of the defensive zone moments later.
They’d been trying this throughout the game and this time it comes off. Nathan with a rocket from the point and Stu’s there in front to get the tip. 7-1.
There’s a late scare at the very end, but Petr makes the leg save to deny the Bison a late consolation. It ends 7-1 to Haringey, an astounding 81 Haringey shots on net to 22 of Basingstoke’s. Frustrating at times but a dominant performance in the end.
Sadly, the Huskies couldn’t back it up with another win on Sunday.
Haringey were dealt their first loss in the league for the 2026/27 season. They were 1-5 down at one point but managed to bring it back to 5-6 with minutes left in the third. Our last win in this fixture came in the 2023/24 season. Oxpens proves yet again to be a miserable place to go on a Sunday night.
October continues its unrelenting schedule. We now have four home games on the bounce: Guildford, Peterborough, Bristol, and Invicta. The two strongest sides in the league in recent years, followed by two teams scoring for fun. There are few changes you could make to make this month more difficult!
Saturday, for me, is the big one though.
This will be the Huskies’ biggest test so far, and a yardstick for their aspirations in the league this year. We took points off the Phoenix for the first time ever last season in overtime at the Spectrum, but this is the one we’ve all wanted. The one we’ve seen slip through our fingers so many times before.
Keep on shooting.
Let’s Go Huskies.
Photos by Luke O’Donovan
