HARINGEY BOROUGH TOUCH OF CLASS WINS IT

HARINGEY BOROUGH 1 BRENTWOOD TOWN 0
ISTHMIAN LEAGUE 1 NORTH @ COLES PARK WHITE HART LANE
3 FEBRUARY 2018 --- 3PM

COLES PARK HOME OF HARINGEY BOROUGH FC

A single goal from Michael Ademiluyi was enough for Boro' to claim the three points and what a stunner it was with pace and a clinical finish it was the stand out moment of the game.  The encounter was played out in constant rain and some of the play although scrappy did produce chances that saw both keepers perform well at regular intervals.  For Brentwood they would feel desperately disappointed to have drawn a blank in the points column having had the lions share of possession but it matters to get the ball in the back of the net something Ademiluyi did with great skill and at the other end Valery Pajetat was on top form for Haringey.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS NEW ABODE ON ITS WAY

Another Saturday morning rain and games about to be called off in the East Midlands so the option of a trip down south sprung up and with a 3g at Haringey having been in the offing for a few weeks today would be the day with better weather forecast around London, needless to say from arriving to leaving it rained non stop and it was a case of swapping northern rain for southern rain!  A prompt departure from base station saw arrival in London in just short of two hours and after a speedy purchase of a day bus Oyster card it was a sprint to York Way to catch the 259 Edmonton Green bus to White Hart Lane.  Passing Pentonville Prison and onwards via the roads adjacent to the Emirates luckily Arsenal kick off at 5.30pm today so this would not be an inconvenience.  With the rain and steamed up windows blocking out the view from the top deck it was not as good a journey as planned for sight seeing but around 50 minutes later a departure was made just short of White Hart Lane to view the massive new ground that will be Tottenham Hotspurs home in 2019 and the first impression is wow how big is this ground going to be.  Words struggle to describe how it dwarfs all around it and this will be one impressive stadium sadly with the rain teaming down I was restricted in photo's all day including here and then at 'the boro' so not as many to highlight the visit as I would have liked.

COVERED TERRACE AND THE ICONIC STAND AT WHITE HART LANE

Outside White Hart Lane station I waited with a large collection of fellow travellers for the W3 which in its early journey travels along White Hart Lane the four stops or so to Coles Park home of Haringey Borough.  While passing by Rowland Hill Ave the connection to base sprung to mind with the Post Office accounts HQ being named after the said gentleman founder of the postal service and stamped delivery.  Indeed Mr Hill was also resident in Bruce Castle in Tottenham which also housed one of his educational establishments, in the 19th century I'm sure this part of London would have been on the very edge of the city with lots of green spaces his former home survives today with its gardens and offers up a museum to him and Haringey too.

VIEW BACK TOWARDS LONDON DURING PRE MATCH

Haringey has the quirk of being the borough in council sense that also consist of Harringay as an area like Tottenham to fall within the authorities boundaries however when I first spotted the different spellings I had to check this out I though the map people had got it wrong.  It had been a busy week in the life of local authorities with local council leader Claire Kober resigning over pressure put on her over the new Haringey Development Vehicle [HDV] I will let you look that up, but basically a public private partnership to upgrade social housing with a private twist and of course the fears that local people would not get acceptable accommodation back in their home borough.
Departing by the side of the ground Coles Park is in a surreal setting with The Sea Cadets to one side and allotments to the other, over the road the very large storage warehouse was half destroyed by fire last year.  Anyway Coles Park is on White Hart Lane, remember the football club that actual is on that 'lane' not the big boy Charlie's down the road.  The entrance gives up plenty of car parking certainly for today's attendance 135 and more or less offers a circuit road around it with to the far side a scrap man advertised.

THE ALLOTMENT END WITH ALEXANDRA PALACE AND MAST TO THE RIGHT OF THE TOWER BLOCKS

Entry was at a very reasonable £7 [option of free season ticket after first admission too] with a programme at £2 not too big on page capacity but a warm greeting was received from the gateman and after a circuit of the ground it was time to get out of the damp stuff into the clubhouse which is a separate building behind the main stand.  Following a brief liquid, non alcoholic mind, by the pleasant bar staff a research sample was made of a chip cob, from the side snack bar, which seemed to be accepted down in London as a good terminology regular readers will know the problems with cob/bap/roll/balm/batch.

RESPECT HANDSHAKES

The ground descriptor can be done fairly quickly 3g with the obligatory green surround fencing the ground boundary could see it renamed Corrugated park because its all panels of the lovely metal around the exterior.  The stand is the highlight of Coles Park sat up high offering an excellent view of the action with to the left the cranes from Spurs new ground arching over the new build, straight ahead the tower blocks in the edge of London and to the right the allotments and then in the murky distance today Alexandra Palace and the large TV aerial.  Apparently the latter is still in use and the park areas around 'Ally Pally' offer some great views back to the city, its just a shame today that the weather rather thwarted the visit.  The stand has a bright yellow and green corporate feel about it with a bit more corrugated panelling along with green moulded seats the type with no backs very much adding a continental feel to them.   The stand is set off centre and to the right as you look at it is a terrace running to the corner flag which offered vital cover and oh yes you know what its made of.  The rest of the ground is uncovered save for a little bit of shelter under the TV scaffold gantry on the far side.  Its a functional ground that I would have loved to have watched the game with the stand as the backdrop to the action but sadly it had to be mainly under the cover of the terrace stand.

FREE KICK FOR BRENTWOOD TOWN NUMBER 11 FOSTER

Another notable factor upon arriving round an hour before kick off was the choice of what the mature among you will remember as Klaus Wunderlich on the organ music this certainly added a different feel to pre match build up and was a change to the some of the modern music.
The early action saw the visitors from Brentwood in the ascendancy possession wise but the home side were to be the goal worriers with Anthony McDonald forcing Anthony Page into a wonderful save from his 20 yard shot.

MATCH WINNER FOR ADEMILUYI [LEFT]

Then the match winner on 19 minutes Ademiluyi cut in off the right with tremendous pace beat one defender on the edge of the box and smashed into the Brentwood net from 10 yards, a great goal that illuminated this dank old day.  Much as Brentwood pushed on they could find the opening and when they did get near goal come cross or shot Boro number one Pajetat was in fine form.

BORO KEEPER VALERY PAJETAT CLAIMS A HIGH BALL

The second half saw McDonald force Page into another fine save before Brentwood went on to strike the post.  The final stages saw the game open up, mind you it had been far from a dour game although some of the play had been a little scrappy there were chances, Ralston Gabriel for Haringey saw his effort saved by Page.  The Brentwood keeper was called on again moments later when he saved again from Gabriel low down at the strikers feet.   In the closing stages a lovely move from Boro should have resulted in a second Jordan Edwards low cross off the right was dummied by Gabriel and McDonald unmarked 8 yards out somehow fired over.

PAJETAT RISING HIGH AGAIN

Not too worry Haringey Borough had collected the three points from a very close game that should give strugglers Brentwood hope and also question why they are in a lowly position in the league after a very good showing.
Return journey could not have been better bus stop right outside the ground for the returning W3 to White Hart Lane Station for the connection to the 259 back down to Kings Cross journey done in around 55 minutes with some time for hoppers food, sandwich, pop and flapjack, before departing north to arrive back at base station just shy of 8.30pm.
Super day out around Haringey and the football at Coles Park shame the rain never relented and the plus side the joys of properly funded public transport in London buses every few minutes.