By Tom Pink
You can call it a lot of things at the moment, but you can’t call it boring.
Eighteen goals for, 18 goals against in four league games makes for a wild, wild ride. At 3-1 up on Saturday I was thinking “we’re so back!”, but that very quickly fell away at 4-4 at the end of the first period and 7-7 at the end of the second.
We’ll have to live with it for now, this rollercoaster hockey. It never settled down until the third period when Haringey found some surety, some confidence, and you felt that they then had enough to see it out.
I’ve criticised this team for not scoring enough but they certainly put me in my place against Oxford; goals in every period; dazzling individual goals; well worked team goals; goals from the very first seconds of the game.
These high-scoring reports are often the most difficult to write as they end up being a long list of goals and not much else, but let’s not complain about that today, so buckle up!
It’s a breathless first period and we’re up 1-0 straight away. Ben Beldecos finds Conner Smith at the crease who goes low and beyond Charlie Hanley in the Oxford net. A minute and a half later Oxford are back on level terms, with three passes that cut open Haringey, tic-tac-toe across the offensive zone and it’s on a platter at the back door with an open goal for Chris Beckett to level it up at 1-1.
Conner was on one the whole game. Forty seconds later he picks it up centre ice, has the strength and tenacity to carry it across the blue line while holding off the Oxford defender, all the way to the crease and then slots past the goalie from close in. Brilliant, brilliant individual goal.
The Rising Stars had plenty of possession early on, trying to force the issue with the Huskies happy to sit back and break. Robert Rejna snuffs out an attack with a well-timed poke check, and Jaden Boolkah has a shot gloved from the point.
Oxford are knocking, and David Wride makes a leg save with the puck working its way to Stephen Woodford on the breakaway who scores nearside from the left 1-on-1. Great goal and daylight between the teams for the first time at 3-1.
David makes a good double save straight from a face-off, first from the right then the left. Oxford continue to have chances though. On the powerplay they make it count, a wrister from the slot goes low across goal and into the corner of the net for 3-2.
Oxford’s third is a freak, and just one of those that you have to move on from quicky. An innocuous shot from the blue line squeezes through David’s legs and into the empty net behind him. He’d definitely want that one back given the chance. 3-3.
It was great to see Marton Szasz back amongst the goals and he gets our fourth; Matt France with a slapshot from the point and Marton’s there on the doorstep to redirect it into the net above the goalie. Really nice.
Robert, Conner, and Marton all have more opportunities but it’s Oxford who score next. Joe Edwards waits and waits and waits, the pass is on across the slot but he gives David the eyes and shoots it near side high into the roof of the net for 4-4.
Entertaining, bananas, frustrating, spectacular, chaotic, take your pick and fill in the blanks as necessary for that period.
The decision to replace David Wride with Naomi Healey in net is a sensible one, in my opinion. I really felt for David, particularly for Oxford’s third goal, but it was the right decision at that moment in the game and perhaps some time out of the firing line would do him good.
The second is more of the same, however. It’s worked from left to right in the O-zone and Ryan Payne fires off the iron, with Robert there to poke home for his first Haringey goal making it 5-4.
An instantaneous response from Oxford however wipes that lead. Straight from the face-off Oxford head to the Haringey net, pass the puck from left to right across the slot and shoot it high from the D beyond Naomi in goal. 5-5.
It’s a carbon copy only seconds later, straight from the face-off, straight towards the Haringey net, but this time it’s near side and over the shoulder of Naomi at that near post and in for 5-6, and the first time Oxford have taken the lead in the game. Ugh.
But a minute and a half later we’re back on level terms, Woody finds Matt from behind the Oxford net, and his one-timer from the hashmarks ties the game at 6-6.
Stuart Appleby has a chance on the breakaway, but his 5-hole shot deflects off the goalie’s skates and diverts wide.
It’s a scrappy old affair, end-to-end stuff and Oxford shooting on sight, really trying to test the newly introduced netminder. Leo De Souza puts a couple of big hits in along the boards, before Marton’s on the scoresheet again with a breakaway from centre ice and a composed finish 1-on-1 into the top left corner.
Naomi makes a few good saves at the end of the period, but Oxford crash the net with three minutes left, and the puck crosses the line to make it 7-7 at the end of the second.
Oxford hit the bar in the third, but it’s mostly Haringey traffic. Conner gets his hat trick, after Joe Willingham shoots from the blue line and it rebounds back into his path at the near post.
Bradley Hildreth has the final say in the game, sending a wrister from the face off on the left high and far side for a lovely finish.
Nine-seven it ends, and Conner gets player of the match for a brilliant trio of goals.
It’s still not totally right, there’s still a lot of bad but there was also a lot of really good. It’s still too easy to score against Haringey, but we are at least scoring plenty, and I thought the performance was vastly better than last week against Lee Valley overall.
I couldn’t make it to Cardiff on Sunday, but it’s the result we wanted and to come through the weekend with all six points is fantastic.
I find the Canucks fascinating and I can’t wait to watch them when they visit the Palace. I don’t know if you caught it over the summer, but Banners on the Wall did an interview with player/coach/Director of Hockey Trevor Hendrikx about the club which was really insightful.
I really liked Pete Taylor’s Coach’s Corner this week too and would love to see more content like that. Anything that’s ‘behind-the-scenes’ of gives an insight into the whys and wherefores of Haringey Huskies Ice Hockey Club is very appealing to fans, I’d say.
Pete talked about new lines gelling, and I thought Conner, Ben, and Robert complemented each other really well. In the absence of Luke Martin, the line of Brad, Scott, and Joe Tearall on Saturday were imposing and more than happy to make their presence felt as well as get on the scoresheet. Some potential green shoots there.
Next Sunday it’s Solent away. Last year’s banana skin. Haringey lost 2-3 at Planet Ice Gosport, before steamrolling them 6-0 in the return fixture. So far this year, they’ve lost to Peterborough home and away, and beaten Lee Valley 2-1.
I’m hoping that Haringey have learnt from their mistakes last year and we can impose ourselves on them at Gosport, but I’d be a fool to try and predict anything at the moment.
Call it what you want, but it is never ever boring.
Let’s Go Huskies.
Photos: Phil Hutchinson