By Tom Pink
AAGGGHHHHH!!!!
A small insight into my internal monologue from Saturday night there. That covers all bases as well; the good times and the bad, the giddy highs, the soul-crushing lows.
I had to give my head a wobble on Sunday morning because I left the Palace on Saturday seeing red. If I’m angry, it’s only because they owed it to themselves to see that through. Not for us, not for the fans, but themselves. Heaven knows they’ve had to take a lot from Guildford over the years.
It’s sensational throughout, both in the performance that Haringey put in to climb to a 4-1 lead against this Guildford side, and in how that disintegrates and falls away in just 12 third-period minutes.
That’s easily the loss that’s hurt me the most. You can keep your 0-10 in the 2021/22 playoff final, your 2-3 in the same year when they clinch the league at the Palace, Luke Martin windmills and all. I thought last year at the Spectrum was painful, 0-2 up with 20 minutes to play only to come away with nothing. But this cut deep.
Guildford Phoenix continue to come up with new and innovative ways of making us look really silly, of making us suffer in the cruellest scenarios imaginable. A Guildford victory is death and taxes stuff at the moment. Their third-period renaissances are staggering. I’d be interested to see the data on how many points they’ve won from losing positions in the final frame. It’ll be more than you think, guaranteed.
With all of that said though, I can’t get away from the fact that from puck drop to minute 45 there is no question that Haringey were by far the better side on Saturday night. But we’ve seen that time and again against this lot; play well, lose.
I think it’s a big shame that Joe Tearall has left Haringey. I really rated Joe, he could snipe and he was always happy to leave something on the opposition, which is a good quality to have in my books.
Scott Anda heads out the door too. When Scott signed I thought we were getting a real player; a 2023/24 playoff champion with Basingstoke and a 25 point season to boot. And it might have been that we did, he just didn’t get the opportunity to show it. It’s unsurprising that he may have felt a bit miffed playing on our fourth line after the year he had, but you have to trust the coach and it might be an indicator of how strong our top six is as well. Wherever he lands, all the best to him.
Courtney Grant comes in, joining from the Romford Buccaneers in South 1. I thought he was very, very busy all night. Really liked his energy and drive and he bagged himself an assist and Player of the Match award too. A fantastic introduction. Welcome Courtney.
Matt France played his hundredth game in the black and white of Haringey too. Unfortunately he bucks the recent trend of marking the occasion with a goal, but well done Matt all the same
I thought we started really well. Two minutes in and we’ve taken the lead. Stephen Woodford puts it on net from the blue line. From where I was sat it looked really innocuous, but something in the flight of it obviously fooled the netminder and it finds the back of the net, possibly under the blocker.
The Huskies weather a spell from the Phoenix and do well on the penalty kill. There’s few chances of quality early on from either side. Bryn Griffiths has a look gloved from centre ice, Courtney has a shot pushed around the post. Conner Smith outmuscles his opponent and does well to clear the puck from the zone under pressure.
Dylan Philips makes a glove save from the blue line. Ryan Payne sends an awkward, bouncing shot on net. Oli Cooper is straight onto the Guildford players on the forecheck from the faceoff. There’s an ebb and flow to the game without it really taking off.
We have a couple of half chances but nothing more. Marton Szasz steals the puck by the Guildford net but can’t work a shot and is bundled over. Stuart Appleby almost has something at the back door, but Marton following-up can’t find twine.
In spite of all our good work, Guildford find the equaliser with six minutes left in the first. Around the net, the puck’s worked to the slot and it’s a one-timer beyond Dylan. A shame as Haringey were playing well. The Phoenix finish the first on top, ringing off the post towards the end but it finishes 1-1.
The second picks up from where the first finished. Dylan shuts the door on a backhand 5-hole shot from the left. Ryan and Woody have shots saved. Matt and James Hepburn put themselves about in centre ice, all snarl and fight.
Leo De Souza can’t get a shot off quick enough from the blue line before he’s crowded out. Courtney heads to net along the left, holding off the Guildford skater, but it’s puck covered at the crease. Ryan has a couple of brilliant defensive moments, first with a poke check in the slot, then snuffing out a 2-on-1 opportunity for the Phoenix and picking off the puck.
Haringey are not only surviving but thriving, and they’re keeping Guildford at arms length which hasn’t always been the case in these games. Conner races off of the bench and onto the puck but gets pushed out wide. But moments later, he’s in the right place at the right time to send Haringey into the lead. Courtney sends it across the slot from the right, and Conner’s there at the backdoor with time to take a touch, set himself, and send the puck high into the net after some sustained Haringey pressure. 2-1. Oof.
Dylan makes a string of saves on the penalty kill to sustain the Huskies’ lead, as the Phoenix try to strike back. But Pete Toth comes up with a classic Pete Toth goal. The puck is awkwardly bouncing around the Guildford slot with no one able to control it properly. It comes through several players, back to the bottom of the right D where Pete hits a wicked one-timer low into the near side. Wow. 3-1, end of the second.
Haringey’s fourth goal is easily the best of the bunch, the best goal of the night as far as I’m concerned. It’s very similar to the goal he scores against Peterborough in the Eddie Joseph Memorial Cup, but it’s even better because he still has a player to beat. It’s even better because it’s against Guildford. It’s even better because it puts Haringey 4-1 up.
Leo’s put through by James Hepburn, he dangles, poking the puck through the legs of the retreating Phoenix D-man, rounds him, heads to net and chips in from close. Bedlam.
What. A. Goal.
4-1 up with 15 left on the clock. Fifteen left in the game. Surely, surely this was it?
If only. It’s absolutely criminal that it’s not the game winning goal, the cherry on the cake, the one that seals the W, but we are where we are. From 45.31 to 57.17 Guildford proceed to score four unanswered goals and complete a heartbreaking comeback.
The first comes straight from a faceoff. It’s worked around the Haringey zone and then poked home, near side on the power play. 4-2. The second is worked across the slot and it’s a one-timer blammed into the net. 4-3. The third is shorthanded, worked down the right. 4-4. The fourth I didn’t see. Head in my hands by this point. 4-5. It’s Guildford forward Theo Sire though, who completes his hat trick on the night, his second against us this season.
There’s chances for Haringey in amongst these, as well as a five minute penalty for Guildford. “C’mon, it’s a flipping* powerplay!” Conner screams as he heads to the bench after his shift. The thoughts of 1,200 people vocalised.
It’s cruel, it’s deflating, it’s ever so painful. How do you respond to a loss like that? Is it a good thing that we now have to play Guildford again twice this coming weekend; the chance for redemption straight away, or simply compounding the pain? I don’t know.
We saw Haringey outplay Guildford for 45 minutes on Saturday, scoring with a freedom that hasn’t always come easily. It has to be that that they hang their hat on. But it’s that last period that worries me. Endurance, concentration, fitness. Those must be the watchwords this weekend. Because as sure as night follows day, Guildford will come after you in that third period, and you’ve got to be ready.
Let’s Go Huskies.
(* Conner worded this in slightly stronger terms than I’ve printed here.)