By Tom Pink
I love fast starts.
It always helps if you can score within the first minute. The first 21 seconds is ideal. As we found against Peterborough, it’s a suckerpunch. It drains the energy out of the opposition, having to start the game for all intents and purposes 1-0 down.
Matt France comes back in after his suspension. He keeps the puck in the o-zone, works the puck centrally from the point, and Stephen Woodford carries it down the slot and shoots low to get things rolling for Haringey. What a start.
I said here last week that at some point Haringey were due a bucket load of goals. The law of averages dictates it. If you continue to put enough shots on net, some of them are going to stick. And that’s exactly what happened on Saturday.
The first period is total domination from the Huskies. I don’t think Dylan Phillips has to make a save until about 10 or 15 minutes in.
Conner Smith makes it 2-0 midway through the period. He receives the puck behind the net, turns at the near post and jams away at the crease. Pete Toth has a goal ruled out; beautiful skate from centre ice past most of the Solent players and it’s in from close, but I think the ref says it was kicked in, possibly by Matt Hepburn.
We could have scored more, it’s a very comfortable period in all honesty. Oliver Cooper does well I thought, particularly in one phase of play where he’s behind net retaining possession and looking for options. Joe Tearall has some good scoring opportunities too.
In the second, Matt Hepburn probably should score when Ryan Payne finds him at the back door. He just waited a fraction too long and the Solent netminder was able to get back across.
The Solent goal is really opportunistic and it comes completely against the run of play. Matt France is unlucky. He gets caught with the stick lift facing his own net and the puck’s turned over. Dylan saves the first shot but the rebound is put away. A shame, as there was undoubtedly the makings of his first shutout for Haringey.
Matt makes up for it though. It’s a shot from the face-off, Matt hits it and the netminder thinks they have it, but it trickles in. 3-1 Huskies.
Dylan shows great awareness and anticipation a few minutes later. He’s out to clear the puck and snuff out a 1-on-1 situation early doors after it spills out of the offensive zone and across centre ice.
It’s 4-1 by the end of the period. From the slot, Conner goes top shelf and it flies in off the under-side of the crossbar, after a couple of puck retentions in the offensive zone. Marvellous stuff.
It’s important that Naomi gets the third period between the pipes, I think. Even better that she stands up and saves every one of the five shots sent her way. I spoke about shots on goal last week and converting chances. It’s 84 to 17 this time out. Domination in the stats and also on the ice, and we continue to ramp it up in the third.
Conner gets his hat trick; he shoots from the right high into the far corner. He showed us last year what a lethal attacking player he is. At the moment, he is by far our most dangerous forward, and with the haul of goals he got on Saturday night he should easily be topping the points table.
What I particularly like about him though, and this Haringey performance in general, is that he never seems satisfied. He always pushes for more and more, and even if he’s scored three, he’ll always be looking for his fourth. A serious talent.
We go 7-1 up before the Devils call a timeout. Stuart Appleby scores a wonderful solo goal, carrying the puck whilst also holding off the Solent player and half falling down, he eases the puck past the netminder from close range for a brilliant shorthanded goal. Conner then tips Luke Martin’s shot from the point to bag his fourth of the night.
Solent take the timeout with 10 minutes left in the game, and it’s unfortunate for them because Haringey come back after the 30 seconds with more intent than ever. The old “we want ten!” echoing around the East Court.
Stu gets the tip in front of net on Jaden Boolkah’s second attempt from the point, and Conner scores his fifth, and for me best, goal of the night; drive, intensity, desire, all of it, straight from the face-off, takes the puck right and it’s a vicious shot past the netminder.
Marton Szasz caps it all off with a nicely placed wrister. A very cool finish. 10-1.
Player of the Match goes to Stu, and it’s Josh Fernandes in net for Solent, and rightly so. The number of shots they faced and stood up to was admirable. It’s a brilliant performance from Haringey all round, by far our most dominant yet, and like I’ve said, they just kept going and didn’t let up. It’s so, so good to get a performance like that in, and I’m just hoping, praying, that we can carry some of that over into the next two games, the next game in particular.
I love and loathe this fixture in equal measure. Loathe it because I have never come away from the Spectrum happy. Love it because of what it represents; potential. There’s always a chance, and the more recent Haringey performances there have been really strong, albeit with nothing to show for them.
There’s been a kind of idea that if you can beat Guildford, you can win the league. This isn’t actually true, I don’t think Bristol beat them in 2022/23, but it’s felt like that supporting Haringey at times over the years. We’re often going there at the end of the season, on a wing and a prayer that if we can beat them, something might happen. But we’re yet to see what that something is.
I’m still stubbornly keeping a tally of our head-to-head record. Still tormenting myself with it. Is this a good time to play Guildford? I don’t think that time exists. It certainly feels less pressurised, less do-or-die, from the stands at least. But we’ll always want to win this fixture, regardless of the context. Sunday will be no different.
I’ll be going to the Palace on Saturday for my first Haringey Greyhounds game, and I can’t wait. They’re two from two at the moment, and I’m told they’ve had some good crowds already which is absolutely brilliant to hear.
Don’t be satisfied, keep going, don’t let up.
Let’s Go Haringey.
