Haringey Borough 4 - 4 Grays Athletic

After a good away win at Concord Rangers last night Hakan Hayrettin and Mark Holloway took a fairly strong squad to Spartan League outfit Haringey Borough.

Calvin Poku, Charlie Hurlock, Papy Kanyuka, Joe McEvoy, Dan Bunce and Richard Oxby were joined by trialists and a strong contingent of our reserve squad which included three sixteen year old players.

The Coles Park pitch was in great condition and made for a good platform for an entertaining afternoon's football watched by over a hundred spectators in glorious sunshine - unusual considering the weather we have been 'enjoying' recently.

After a slow opening spell the game burst into life after five minutes when Blue's winger Agac gave the ball away cheaply and Marc Graves was forced into a foul just outside the box in the right-back position. From the resulting free kick Boro scored when an umarked player made the most of a free header at the far post.

Five minutes later the home side had doubled their lead despite a good save from Greg Edghill in the Grays goal. A long ball wasn't dealt with well enough and the striker shrugged off the attentions of Brien and Daley to poke the ball goalward. The keeper got down well to his left but could only deflect the ball out to a Boro player and with the keeper stranded he made no mistake from around 12 yards.

Calvin Poku was brought on after 20 minutes and had an immediate impact, beating the full back before firing a low cross into the box which was handled by a defender and the referee awarded the penalty. 16-year-old Bez Hoxhaj stepped up and fired home just inside the keepers right-hand post.

Haringey notched a third within seconds of the restart. The ball was launched out to the right to a Boro player who was inexplicably unmarked and was allowed to run at the full back. Grays players Wes Quinn and Luke Foster collided leaving the Boro player in space in the box and his low drive across the face of the goal was met at the far post for an easy tap in.

HT 3-1

Grays returned after the break without having made any changes and within five minutes of the restart the scores were all square. Some neat football saw Papy Kanyuka charge into the box but he was brought down by the keeper who looked to have clearly the won the ball first but the referee awarded the penalty. Bez Hoxhaj again stepped up and made no mistake, sending the keeper the wrong way. Grays continued to press and were playing some good attacking football and a richly-deserved equaliser came after five minutes of the half. Alun Jones' low cross from the right was met on the volley by Pet Elbi and the ball was slammed home.

The visitors were on top and dominating and in a game where the keepers had been solid and reliable it was a howler that gifted Grays the lead on the hour mark. Elbi's speculative drive from around 30 yards didn't look like it was going to cause any problems but the keeper parried the ball but the spin and momentum took inside the right-hand upright.

The final goal of the game was equally fortunate. Tarell Jackson-Gordon, another 16-year-old debutant, came to meet a long low clearance out of the box on the hlaf-way line but the ball took a funny bounce, hit his knee and had enough force on it to deflect back into the Grays penalty area where a Boro striker was able to stroke the ball home.

Haringey saw out the game with a strong line-up but Grays, with 16-year-old Ridwaan Shaikh also brought into the action, were never put under any serious pressure and the game closed out for a fair 4-4 draw.

Starting line-up

Greg Edghill
Luke Foster
Dan Daley
Charlie Brien
Marc Graves
Joe McEvoy
Wes Quinn
Bez Hoxhaj
Dogan Agac
Pet Egbi
Alun Jones

Goals:

05: 1-0
12: 2-0
21: 2-1
23: 3-1
46: 3-2
49: 3-3
60: 4-3
75: 4-4