Haringey Huskies 5, Slough Spitfires 1
National Ice Hockey League Division 2 South & Wilkinson Cup
26th September 2026
Autumn’s here. Officially.
A season of change and transition. Still too warm to wear a coat though.
It’s been a changeable start to the hockey season too. A lot of the conventional wisdom and accepted norms have seemingly blown away and fallen by the wayside, with several eyebrow raising results already.
Invicta Mustangs go unbeaten in four, before succumbing to Bristol Pitbulls 2 last weekend. Since losing to us, Cardiff Canucks have gone on an impressive run beating Oxford Stars, Milton Keynes Thunder, and Guildford Phoenix in their last three.
Lee Valley Lions are off the mark with wins over Slough and Solent Junior Devils. And Guildford Phoenix have already lost two games; in years gone by that would be enough to cede the league.
(I have to note here that it’s fantastic to see NIHL Stats tentatively back up-and-running. A godsend for anyone trying to keep up with what’s going on across any of the five NIHL leagues).
As it stands, Haringey remain the only unbeaten team in South 2…
Slough top the table. Played six, won four, lost two. Much has been made of the Spitfires icing some of their South 1 colleagues from the Slough Jets. It’s not something new, teams do it every year in our league.
Perhaps the impact they’ve had has ruffled a few feathers, though. The Spitfires were unbeaten before the weekend, impressively dispatching Basingstoke, Guildford, Lee Valley, and Peterborough.
It’s a tricky fixture for the Huskies though, regardless of who Slough brought with them. We lost to them on the road last year 2-4 and played out one of the standout games of that season at the Palace where we narrowly edged them out 6-5.
On Saturday, Luke Clark made his return to Alexandra Palace in Haringey colours, as Nathan Long partnered Pete Tóth, and the familiar forward line of Courtney Grant, Stuart Appleby, and Marton Szasz.
Haringey Come out fast. Richie Pickering hits a slapshot from the point. Covered. There’s an early stoppage as Courtney goes down with blood on the ice.
Ruskin Springer Hughes finds James Pentecosrt who can only skew wide from the slot. Chris Beckett goes through 1-on-1 but the save’s made and it’s poked away. Good effort.
Slough get the first powerplay, but it’s here that Haringey strike. Nathan finds Chris on the blue line who drives to the crease, feints left, sits the netminder down and scores right from close in. A brilliant shorthanded counterattack. 1-0 Huskies.
Clarky makes a couple of decent saves as Slough come back. There’s one from the left which is a great snatch.
Chris is involved again showing amazing control across centre ice but is stopped at the crease. He hits a slapper from the neutral zone then makes a big hit along the boards. Some shift!
Conor Pollard goes through but is denied. Marton Szasz shoots wide. A lot of Haringey chances but it’s still hanging in the balance and is an even game, as expected.
Watching from the rink, what’s remarkable is the depth we have. Courtney, Stu, and Marton are replaced by Pents, Conor, and Ruskin are replaced by Robbie Rejna, Matt Ganas, and Chris. There’s points and goals on all lines you feel, making it more difficult for teams to shut us down.
Haringey start the second on the front foot. Nathan has a couple of looks saved in quick succession. Conor drives the net but the Slough netminder follows and makes the save. Slough start to build some momentum of their own, and forward Ben Williams has a wrister from the right held.
There’s some lovely play between Chris and Max McEwan, before Stephen Woodford picks out Jaden Boolkah who rings off the iron from the blue line. Haringey absorb the pressure and come back, with Nathan fed from behind the net finding the netminder’s pads.
Slough come again, and it’s a wonder save from Clarky which denies them, two in the blink of an eye. They crank the pressure on some 5-on-3 hockey. Max cuts out the pass in the slot and scrambles to clear the zone. Ex-Husky Ian Germanier-Torrado should definitely score from the right but the chance goes begging, and Haringey make Slough pay after the penalty kill.
It’s Jaden with the poke check which releases Ruskin who rips from the left into the net. Exactly what we needed, right at the end of the period and right when Slough were pushing for parity. 2-0 Huskies.
It’s end-to-end in the dying seconds but Haringey hold on to the break with their two goal lead.
Haringey really turn it on in the third though, hitting three unanswered goals before Slough get a consolation at the death. In the first minute Haringey make it three on the powerplay after some sustained pressure on the Spitfires’ net. The puck falls to Marton who whacks it home from close range.
Robbie finds Matt who finds Max who should score but shoots wide. Courtney nearly nabs the puck but is blocked. Chris almost scores from the crease. A blistering start to the period from Haringey.
Slough call a timeout with 12 minutes left.
Conor gets his first goal for Haringey at the Palace, with assists from Nathan and Pents to make it four, and Ruskin makes it five a minute later, ripping from the face-off into the top corner. What a shot.
Slough netminder Conor Dudley flashes the leather to make an incredible double save against first Conor and then Ruskin. They get a goal with five minutes left in the game, scored by forward Joe Covey. On the powerplay, it’s passed from behind the goal line out in front and Joe hits a one-timer low across net and in far side.
It finishes 5-1 on the night and it’s a brilliant performance and result in a game that could have gone in any direction. In all aspects from defence to offense I thought we were exceptional. A thoroughly deserved victory and really satisfying that we were able to craft (and take!) so many scoring opportunities.
It’s a back-back weekend next against Basingstoke and Oxford.
The Bison have had a tough time of it so far being trounced in their first three games, shipping 32 goals and scoring four. They’ve signed Matt Friend in net who I remember playing against us for the Streatham Blackhawks. But gone are Basingstoke stalwarts Sam Compton, Cam Buckle, Morgan Parsons, and others, all moved to pastures new.
It’s been a mixed start for Sunday’s opponents the new look Oxford Stars, with what were the South 1 Oxford City Stars and South 2 Rising Stars merging into one entity. Played three, won one, lost one, one overtime win. They’ve faced Cardiff twice and had an impressive 6-1 victory over the Chelmsford Warriors.
There’s a lot to like about this Haringey side. A lot. And I suspect there’s still a lot more to come too. But slowly, slowly. If we can build on last weekend there’s every chance we can extend that unbeaten run. See you on Saturday.
Let’s Go Huskies.
Photos by Luke O’Donovan
