By Tom Pink
That was a hard-fought weekend. Both games, all four points, tooth and nail.
We work so, so hard to get on top that we teeter on the edge and almost come tumbling down.
Of all the back-to-backs this was always going to be the hardest, the most testing, the most tiring. Oxford turn up and give us hell for 20 minutes. A first period where both teams should score but end up frustrating each other in equal measure.
At Cardiff, two goals to the good becomes a nervy finish after letting them back in, shipping a 5-on-3 shorty to boot.
Broadly the pattern of the weekend was this: frustrating first period, Huskies dominate, varying degrees of wobble, ultimately get the job done.
And that’s the important part. Getting the job done. It really doesn’t matter how they get it done at the moment, just that we come away with the points.
On Saturday Tom Adams got the nod again. A good decision to my mind considering the lengthy trip to Cardiff on Sunday; Luke Clark gets a rest and Tom gets more minutes.
There’s a lot of possession but not much cutting edge early on. Joe Tearall shoots wide nearside from the left wing. Leo de Souza Saoncella juggles the puck across the blue line but his shot’s held. Stuart Appleby sends one over the bar from the hash marks.
Oxford hit the underside of the Haringey crossbar, but it spins harmlessly away. They’re always looking for the pass across both lines to spring the breakaway but can’t always find a pass or shot to punish us.
Haringey force the issue in the second with four goals without reply.
Jon Beldecos is at it again. Absolutely at it. What a revelation he’s been this year. There’s a lot to be said for just driving to the net at speed. It’s very similar to his goal against Streatham but he shoots it instead of taking it around the netminder. I loved everything about that goal, even more so because it’s the one that breaks the deadlock, that breaks Oxford’s resolve.
Three more follow. Joe Willingham shoots low and hard from the point and scores 5-hole. I don’t think the goalie even realised it had gone in at first.
Stephen Woodford gathers the puck in the slot after Stu loses it and scores backhand across the goal from the left. And another backhander, this time Conner Smith scoops it from the hash marks into the roof of the net on the power play. That’s much more like.
We’re cruising and possibly could have added to the tally. Alex Benson finds Cass McCormack in centre ice but he can’t get control of it and the goalie covers.
We pick up again at the start of the third, Pete Toth sending an absolute bomb into the net. One-timer from the left that no one in their right mind would get in the way of. It would still be travelling now if the net wasn’t there to stop it.
The two Oxford goals were probably deserved, especially considering their first period performance, but I imagine Tom will want them both back. The first cuts across the slot and rounds Tom in net, scoring from the left, and the second beats him near side on the left from out of nothing really.
Plenty of aggro at the end meant that handshakes were called off. I thought Leo had a superlative game on Saturday. Constantly busy every shift, high energy, relentless on the forecheck. He’d be my pick for player of the match. Special mention too to Oliver Cooper who took his bow for the Huskies.
Sunday. The long road to Cardiff along the M4. Reading services. The Vindico Arena carpark. Killing time in coffee shops. This had all the hallmarks of a seriously treacherous game. Cardiff, the only team to take points off Guildford so far this season. The physical, niggling Cardiff.
We line up slightly differently. Luke comes back in net, with Ryan McFarlane, Jon, Conner, Sam Roberts, and Pete for face off.
A mad, frantic opening sees the Fire scramble to puck away from their crease as Haringey can’t capitalise. We do well again without creating much clear cut. Matt France makes a couple of good clearances on the penalty kill. There’s afters at the end of the period but it comes to nothing.
After a scare at the net from three or four Fire half-chances, we assert ourselves again. Joe Tearall gets the first Haringey goal after five minutes in the second with a wrister from the right, and a couple of minutes later Stu makes it two from a scramble in front of goal, gifting him plenty to aim at.
That doesn’t last long though. A minute after, we lose the face off and Cardiff skate the length of the ice to score on the breakaway. There’s more in the third unfortunately.
After surviving an early scare with Luke glancing a Cardiff shot onto the post, they breakaway again, shorthanded, and this time make it count. 2-2.
Haringey have to dig deep. Cardiff look dangerous and the most likely to score next. Stu makes a fantastic diving block to clear the zone on the penalty kill. There’s not much cohesion and it’s end-to-end without much final product from either side.
But they get the job done. Against the run of play Matt France gets the game-winning goal. Conner goes all the way to the net and has his shot saved, the puck falling to Sam who finds Matt in the slot who controls and sends it far side, and everyone in black and white back to London with two points.
We could have wrapped it up after the Fire pull the goalie with 43 seconds left on the clock, but two clearances down ice miss the net and are called for icing. We hang on though, and that’s what counts.
After all this, all the weeks before, all the hard work, the travel, the grit, the goals, the picking ourselves up and going again, we’ve reached a defining moment. The next league game can now determine whether it’s still in our hands. If I have this right, win within 60 minutes on Saturday 9th and we roll on to the Palace on the 23rd for a winner-takes-all league finale against the Guildford Phoenix.
We would have to win it in regulation again, but if it comes off this Saturday, March 23rd will be astronomical. Literally off the charts. Can you imagine it?
But it’s all ifs, buts, and maybes.
They’ve got to get the job done on Saturday first, and that, as we all know, will not be, and has not been, easy against this Guildford outfit. By any stretch.
However they do it, I don’t care as long as they get it done.
Win in regulation. Just win.
For the penultimate time this league season: Let’s Go Huskies.
See you on Saturday.
