Final Score - Haringey 2 : Oxford 2

Sunday 5th October 2008

The last time Oxford travelled to play Haringey it was in the play offs of 2007. The home side beat a very young Oxford side to seal the championship and book a place in the national final. Two seasons later and both clubs are in very different places, Oxfords young inexperienced team has now developed in to a strong championship challenging roster whereas Haringey's early season form leaves them struggling at the foot of the table.

With this in mind Oxford travelled to North London in confident mood on the back of a comfortable victory over Peterborough Islanders the week before. Oxford were missing Richie Hargreaves and Nick Oliver but otherwise lined up with a full strength roster. Haringey were short benched and had only two lines of players.

The game started as predicted with Oxford looking strong however the ice was not in the best condition and both teams struggled to deal with the surface water that held up the puck on a number of occasions. After five minutes Captain Darren Elliott slotted home after Joe Edwards created space deep in the Haringey zone. Six minutes later Oxford doubled the lead in bizarre fashion. Alan Armour took a stick to the face and was left on the far blue line checking his face for blood, whilst he was doing that Haringey attacked the Oxford goal but Oxford regained possession and the long clearance found Armour on his own one on one with the Haringey goalie and he promptly thundered a slapshot in to the top corner before pointing his stick at his alleged attacker in celebration.

At this point in the game it seemed a question of how many goals Oxford would score rather than whether they would win the game. Unfortunately a number of minor penalties for both sides killed off the rest of the period.

The second period continued where the first had left off with neither side playing good hockey and the referee taking centre stage with some dubious calls on Oxford as the insistence on 'evening' the penalties out became more and more obvious. With eleven minutes gone Haringeys Rick Rutherford volleyed the puck down into the goal from above his head with his stick and at first the referee washed the goal out (quite rightly for High Sticks) only to then point for a goal to be allowed. It was a staggering decision and infuriated the Oxford team and their supporters. The goal did however rally the home side and they grew in confidence from that moment on. With Oxford shorthanded again , Haringey defenceman Michael Varcoe skated down the left wing before cutting in and firing a tame backhand effort that somehow squeezed under the pads of Oxford goalie James Skaife and in to the net. The second period ended with cheers from the home support with the score at 2-2.

If the first and second period had seen Oxford below par then the third period saw them play the hockey they are capable of. It was no coincidence that the period was played with Oxford not taking any penalties however they found Haringey goalie David Wride in inspired form as he denied Armour, Edwards and Francis who all had good chances. Haringey defended very well and Oxford just couldn’t score the vital goal. With two minutes left Andrew Shurmer found himself wide open but Wride made the save for Haringey and then with only seconds remaining Gary Dodds had a golden opportunity to secure the two points from the home side but just couldn’t get the shot away.
The game ended in stalemate however Haringey will be much the happier side. Stars defenceman David Carr spoke after the game:
' We lacked a cutting edge tonight to finish the game off, there will be times when we have to break defensively minded teams down but tonight we just couldn’t manage it. It is a disappointing result however I would much rather take a draw than a loss as each point could be valuable at the end of the season'.