By Tom Pink
I expected a closer game than we’ve maybe previously seen against Lee Valley, but I wasn’t expecting it to be that close. I certainly wasn’t expecting to see Lee Valley take the lead against us twice, but maybe that has more to do with my own naivety and my own blinkered view.
We need to keep some perspective here though: a win is a win is a win.
I’ll very gladly take the three points and move on to the next one, regardless of performance, regardless of how we play. That can be remedied and improved upon, but you can’t take those three points back.
You can take a lot of good out of that game though; the resilience to come back twice and ultimately win the game, good performances across the team, a win in the opening game of the season.
At the heart of this, the credit has to go to Lee Valley. For all the 10-2’s and 8-0’s we’ve seen against them, you have to remember that this Lee Valley side beat Peterborough last season. You have to remember that it’s a similar scoreline to Saturday when we visited them in 2023/24 and ‘only’ came away with a 4-2 victory. You have to remember that Nathan Awoyemi scored the filthiest between-the-legs goal against us last year that South 2 has ever, ever seen. I’ve said it before here but it does bear repeating: there are no easy games in South 2.
They only finished bottom due to goal difference in 2023/24, and a point away from pulling themselves clear of Streatham. Their new branding and socials are brilliant; they had a videographer behind their bench and following the players around at the Palace, and it seems they’re throwing everything at it this year. Judging by their reactions and what’s come out of the club after the fact, they really liked that game too.
And all of this isn’t damning them with faint praise either. There’s a lot of history and meaning bound-up with the Lions, and on Saturday they dominated the Huskies at times.
Matt France returns to take his place in that familiar first line. Scott Anda joined Joe Tearall and Conner Smith on the second line, with Joe Willingham and Ryan Payne the defensive duo. I like Joe Willingham on D in general. We’ve seen him there before and more regularly at the back end of last year and I think we’ll see him playing defence more often than not this year too.
Anticipation. Nervous energy. There’s few real moments in the first period. A lot of effort and willing, a lot of physicality, particularly from Haringey, but not a huge amount of quality chances. Leo De Souza Saoncella started brightly and is involved in an early flash point with Lions forward Matt Ganas. Stephen Woodford sets James Hepburn away but he can’t finish.
Our best chance comes about five minutes in. Haringey make a goal line clearance after some puck juggling (I think it might come off the post), and then immediately find Scott Anda on the blue line, who makes his way along the left wing and rips a shot off the iron at the other end. What a goal that would have been.
David Wride warmed into the game I thought and made several good saves, one in particular in that first period he gloved from the slot, moving away in the other direction.
The Lions had the puck in the back of the net just under 10 minutes into the game, but it’s wiped due to a player in the crease. It ends 0-0 but Lee Valley looked on top at the end there, and there’s enough hairy moments and puck spills for me to be thankful for the end of the period.
The second is a whirlwind. A world away from the first. Thirty seconds in, Jaden Boolkah makes it 1-0 to Haringey. Woody works it along the boards on the left, cuts back to find Jaden at the point who shoots far side, top corner, for a sweetly taken goal.
Straight after, Joe Tearall fires a rocket across the face of the net. Doc has another 1-on-1 chance saved. This is far, far better from the Huskies who are now dominating possession and establishing themselves in the offensive zone. Matt Hepburn latches onto a loose puck but shoots wide.
But Lee Valley are still right in this. Bryn Griffiths hits the ice and makes a great block across the slot. Halfway through the period the Lions get the equaliser they’ve deserved. Matt Hamilton sends a wrister through traffic from the right, and it sails into the top of the net. Lee Valley looking very good value for the goal.
I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned it last week and should have known better, but of course Lee Valley score their next goal shorthanded. Of course. A minute after finding parity and finding themselves on the penalty kill, Matt Ganas (who was a menace all evening) is put through on the breakaway, drives to net and dekes past David Wride, scoring low and in the corner. 2-1 Lee Valley and into uncharted territory.
Conner Smith rips one from the left, drawing a pad save and in fairness to Haringey they stick to their task. A couple of minutes after going behind, Jaden Boolkah once again pops up at the point, and his wrister is partially saved this time but creeps over the line for 2-2.
Parity doesn’t last long though. Two minutes later, David makes a save from the right but it pops out, and ex-Husky Seb Downing is there to follow-up on the doorstep and regain the Lee Valley lead.
We claw ourselves back on level terms a couple of minutes later. It’s a beautiful pass from Joe Willingham across both lines to find Joe Tearall who finishes from close range for a very nice goal and 3-3. That was Haringey at their best; moving the puck with speed, being alive to opportunities.
There’s a string of chances for Haringey as they turn it on in the third. Jaden, Conner, and Woody all have opportunities to clinch the game. Woody in particular had two or three that I was certain he’d score. But it was Scott Anda who grabbed the winner, shooting high from the left with seven minutes left on the clock.
It’s a slightly stop-start, bitty ending to the game. Lots of face-offs and the game not allowed to flow, but most importantly Haringey get the job done. Lee Valley pull the netminder with 30 seconds left in the game, but it’s not enough.
Joe Tearall gets player of the match and it’s very well deserved. You could have gone Jaden Boolkah, you could have gone Scott Anda. Good to see Ryan Payne have a solid return, and I thought there were others who looked decent too. We had plenty of chances, and on another day it might have been more.
But even after going behind, it never felt panicked, it never felt rushed, there was a sense that if they kept going, Haringey would get their goal, and they did, and that’s something to hold on to and build upon. I’ll be very interested to see this same fixture on the 28th in the Eddie Joseph Memorial Cup, as Lee Valley will take a lot of heart from that performance and will definitely fancy themselves.
Next though is Peterborough. We couldn’t beat them in the league last year, but that was then and these will be two changed sides from the last time they met. Expect a very different game from Saturday. Expect plenty of speed and aggression.
Expect it all, expect the lot.
Let’s Go Huskies!