Haringey Borough 1-1 Thamesmead Town - That's put an end to our play-off hopes, admits Thamesmead Town boss Terry Spillane

Haringey Borough 1 – 1 Thamesmead Town
Location	Coles Park, White Hart Lane, Tottenham, London N17 7JP
Kickoff	05/04/2016 19:45

HARINGEY BOROUGH  1-1 THAMESMEAD TOWN
Ryman League Division One North
Tuesday 5^th April 2016
Stephen McCartney reports from White Hart Lane

THAMESMEAD TOWN boss Terry Spillane admits being held to a draw at lowly Haringey Borough has put an end to their play-off hopes.

The Mead extended their unbeaten run to nine games and leapfrogged over Cheshunt and Brightlingsea Regent into sixth-place in the Ryman League Division One North table but they really had to beat sixteenth-placed Haringey Borough to battle it out for the last remaining play-off spot.

After a goal-less first half that Tom Loizou’s side enjoyed more of the possession and the better chances, Haringey Borough opened the scoring early in the second half through striker Dean Fenton’s sixth goal of the season.

Thamesmead Town striker Jack Hopkins rescued his side a point with a headed goal, his first goal of the season.

Champions-elect AFC Sudbury are walking away with the title, having collected 98 points from 42 games.

Harlow Town (89 points from 43 games), Thurrock (87 points from 43), Cray Wanderers ( 86 points from 43) and AFC Hornchurch (76 points from 42) occupy the play-off places tonight.

Thamesmead Town (74 points from 43), Cheshunt (73 points from 42) and Brightlingsea Regent (73 points from 43 games) have slender chances of making the top five.

“Obviously we’re disappointed, that’s put an end to our play-off hopes, I’m pretty certain about that,” admitted Spillane after being held to their 11^th league draw of the season.

“We’ve just said to the boys that’s nine games unbeaten so in one respect you have to be pleased with that and the other respect is games like tonight and over the Easter period as well that we’ve drawn.

“If you’re going to be in the play-offs, no disrespect to the teams that we’re playing but if you’re going to be in the play-offs you have to beat these teams.

“I felt that it’s the worst pitch in the league without a doubt so you come here and you have to change the way you play.  You’ve seen our pitch so we play a certain way on that.  I’m not saying that’s not an excuse because it is because you have to change the way you play.

“But I don’t think in the first 45 minutes we showed enough nous or enough knowhow to get anything from the game.

“As soon as they went 1-0 up through a mistake, that changed the game in our favour because all of a sudden you see a different beast in Thamesmead, a team that don’t like getting beat.

“Strange as this may sound, we just said to them in there, it’s not about a team that don’t want to get beat that win league’s or get in play-offs, it’s about teams that not only want to win but win and come to places like this and drawing aint a bad result if you win your home games.

“We’ve shot ourselves in the foot there tonight. That changing room is really downbeat at the moment because they know it’s come to an end but I just said to them it’s not about tonight’s result, it’s about big moments in the season when we’ve come up short.

“We’ve had chances to put pressure on teams above us in many games this season, six or seven games in fact and not once have we put pressure on to teams that need be.

“We knew that we needed to win tonight to put any pressure on Hornchurch and Cheshunt and we’ve not done that.  Cheshunt or Hornchurch are going to be fighting it out. I’m not going to rule Brightlingsea out but I think it’s pretty fair to say it’s between Cheshunt and Hornchurch now for that final spot.”
 
A crowd of just 60 watched Haringey Borough extend their unbeaten run to six games to climb up a place in the table on 47 points from 42 games, thus ensuring last season’s Essex Senior League winners can look forward to a second season in the Ryman League.

Thankfully the awful bobbly pitch will make way for an artificial playing surface in the summer.

Haringey Borough enjoyed plenty of possession as Thamesmead Town started on the back foot.

The home side created the first chance of the game inside 13 minutes.

Daniel Aristidou’s corner from the left was cleared back to him and his second cross floated across towards the far post for right-back Rakim Richards to plant his header wide of the right-hand post.

Aristidou had three bites of the cherry to put over a cross from the left and Richards found space on the edge of the six-yard box to hook his left-footed shot over the crossbar.

Spillane said: “They are what they are at Haringey, they go back to front, they’ve got plenty of pace. It’s just not a very nice place to come and I think they use that to their advantage, rightly so. If I was in their position I’d be doing the same.”

Thamesmead Town took nearly 20 minutes to create their first opening.

They won themselves a free-kick close to the right by-line and Lee Prescott drilled his free-kick straight into the wall.

The midfielder latched onto the loose ball, cut inside and struck a left-footed shot sailing just over the crossbar from 15-yards.

Spillane said: “The free-kick was poor! It was straight at the wall. His follow up was really unlucky in fact from where we was we thought it was in!

“That’s football, that’s not a slight dig at Lee. He’s obviously tried to score from the free-kick and he ain’t got it over the wall, which is disappointing, but his follow-up was really good.”

Haringey Borough striker Nana Asamoah cut inside to crack a left-footed powerful drive which screamed just past the near post from 30-yards.

Prescott then played a low ball into the Haringey box, the ball was poked away by stretching central defender Daniel Walker and Hopkins powered his first time drive over the crossbar from 20-yards.

Haringey Borough called Andy Walker into making a comfortable catch in the 38^th minute.

Leon Wilson swept the ball out to right-back Richards, who was given time and space to float in a cross for Fenton to loop his free header into Walker’s hands.

Walker proved why he is still the best goalkeeper around when he denied Haringey Borough a deserved lead.

Asamoah whipped his left-footed free-kick towards the top near corner from 25-yards, Walker diving to his left to push the ball behind for a corner.

Walker, who was the busier of the two goalkeepers, then made a routine catch as Wilson hit a speculative right-footed volley into his hands from 35-yards.

But poor Thamesmead Town could have snatched the lead inside time added on.

Prescott crossed the ball in from the right towards an unmarked Harrison Carneige, whose header from sixteen-yard sailed across the goalkeeper, agonisingly past the far post.

“He tells us that was just a whisker wide,” said Spillane.

“He said it was very close. It’s one of them, if that goes in, it’s a different game. It puts pressure on them, our tails are up and we probably go on and win it but it weren’t to be.”

Spillane added: “I was quite happy going in 0-0 because I felt the first 20 minutes they really put it on us and I felt we dealt with it as well as we could so going in 0-0 at half-time we was quite happy with that.

“We was saying at half-time we’ll change our shape a little bit, we’ll put a little bit of pressure on them and I felt if we’d have got ourselves in front they would’ve folded. They’re a young side, a young team and I’m not sure if they deal with pressure very well.

“We’re still in it and if we nick a goal we put pressure on them and we go on and win the game.

“Obviously you can’t play too much football so we was going very direct.  We was telling players if they had to clear it just put their foot through things, get distance on your clearances, obviously get it out of your feet and hit channels.”

Haringey Borough deserved their lead when it arrived only 129 seconds into the second half.

Wilson played a lovely through ball which split open Joe Vines and Richard Butler to put Fenton through on goal, who dinked his shot across the advancing Walker from 15-yards, the ball bouncing into the bottom far corner of the net.

Spillane admitted his players ignored his half-time instructions.

He said: “The one time we didn’t do it, we played it down the middle, it was a poor clearance, they’ve picked it up, through ball, one ball, goal! We’re 1-0 down!

“We’ve shot ourselves in the foot there but the reaction once again from the boys was fantastic! You’d have thought that we’ve just scored the goal. That’s the disappointing thing because if we’d have started the game like that, or we’d have got a goal in front, we’d have gone on and won it.

“One ball between the two centre halves and the lad’s got plenty of pace and the one thing we’re not blessed with, our centre backs, is pace. We’ve got Joe (Vines) and Buts (Richard Butler) who will head and volley things all day long.

“Even when he went through I was still expecting Walker to save it, unfortunately for us not tonight.”

Borough squandered a couple of excellent chances to seal their Ryman League survival here tonight.

Central defender Coby Rowe found himself on the left-hand side of the pitch to float over a deep cross into the six-yard box only for Aristidou to flick his shot looping over the crossbar.

Aristidou then unleashed a right-footed drive which screamed narrowly past the far post from 35-yards.

Thamesmead Town were awarded a free-kick some 35-yards from goal and Prescott drilled another poor free-kick, which flashed six-yards wide of the left-hand post.

But Spillane was full of praise for his captain Hopkins for rescuing his side a point, the goal timed at 13:59.

Left-back Jay Porter reached the by-line and he wrapped his foot around the ball to whip in a precise cross, which found an unmarked Hopkins, just inside the near corner of the penalty area, glancing his header across the keeper and into the top far corner of the net.

“I thought he was immense tonight, Jack,” said Spillane. 

“He’s been out all season, he’s come back in. I made him captain tonight and I thought he was fantastic tonight and that just shows that he’s about.

“He’s dragged his team back into the game. That’s a captain’s performance from Jack and I only wish I had 15 players like him!”

Thamesmead Town almost snatched the lead in the 65^th minute.

Carneige played a poor back pass intended for his goalkeeper Walker, who was forced to sprint out at least 15-yards outside of his penalty area to punt his clearance back to the winger on the left.  Carneige’s deep cross was met by striker Paul Vines’ bullet header, which sailed just past the left-hand post.

Spillane said: “Again, we was saying the one player on the pitch you want that chance to fall to is Vinsey and again, I was right behind it, it was so close.  The keeper was rooted, he was getting nowhere near that but unfortunately it just went wide.”

A period of sloppy Thamesmead Town defending almost gifted Haringey Borough the lead, but for another world-class save from Walker with 13 minutes left.

Fenton, now playing out wide on the left, cracked a stunning right-footed angled drive from 30-yards, which was destined to scream into the top far corner of the net, but Walker dived full length high to his left to tip the ball around the post.

Spillane said: “Great save, it was again, you’re right, it was sloppy, we didn’t clear our lines. We’ve got a chance to put our foot through it and we haven’t.  We tried to be clever and he’s tried to side-foot it into an area, which he’s miss-kicked or whatever.

“I know Dean quite well, he’s a very, very good player and as I said just there about Vinsey, the last player I wanted to see on their team was Fenton.

“Walker, great save. It’s going in the top corner and as usual he saves it.”

Walker then made a smart stop low down at his near post to prevent Wilson’s shot from a tight angle creeping into the bottom near corner.

Haringey Borough created enough chances to win the game and central midfielder Jorge Djassi-Sambu will be kicking himself for not burying his header from eight-yards, which he planted over the bar after Aristidou swung in his fourth and last corner of the game.

But Thamesmead Town almost snatched the victory at the death following Walker’s big punt down the heart of the pitch. 

Seventeen-goal striker Theo Fairweather-Johnson got the ball out from underneath his feet, before sliding his shot agonisingly past the foot of the left-hand post from 20-yards.

Spillane said: “I’m shouting at him ‘hit the target from there’ because if he hits the target the keeper’s beaten.

“Listen, that’s just one of those things in non-league football. You see pros doing it on 50 grand a week, so Theo’s been brilliant for us, absolutely brilliant, so I’m not going to have a go at him for missing one from 20-yards.”

Spillane takes Thamesmead Town to his old club Maldon & Tiptee on Saturday and Tilbury seven days later – both Essex sides are tenth and eleventh-place in the table respectively, before The Mead host Brightlingsea Regent at Bayliss Avenue on 23 April.

Spillane said: “We just said to them in there, we could easily fold now can’t we and just roll over – we won’t!”

“I guarantee you that we’ll go there and we’ll give it a real go with the last three games.

“The way the season’s gone? Who knows? All I want, all I’ve said to the players we’re on a great run, if we win or just keep picking points up, I just want us, if anyone else does slip up, just make sure we’re there.

“We haven’t taken the opportunity ourselves, we have got to rely on teams slipping up.  As someone once famous said, ‘football’s a funny old game!”

When asked about his own future if he fails to meet his own aspirations of finishing in the play-offs, Spillane insists he will be in charge of the club next season.

He said: “He’s (chairman Paul Bowden-Brown) already asked me to stay on for next season. He’s made that clear.  I’m glad that he did because it took the pressure off, not pressure but you know what I mean.

“I sort of know where I stand. He made that clear six to eight weeks ago so I’ve got no worries about that. I’ve put that at the back of my mind.  I’ve got a heart the size of that football pitch and I want to get into the play-offs and I want to go up. If we don’t, I’ll go again next season.

“All I can say is we’ve given it a go, haven’t we? If you’re a Thamesmead supporter, this year we’ve given it a go!”

Haringey Borough: Harry Palmer, Rakim Richards, Aton Brickwood, Jorge Djassi-Sambu, Coby Rowe, Daniel Walker, Daniel Aristidou, Leon Wilson, Dean Fenton, Nana Asamoah (Anthony McDonald 72), Joshua Willer (Ashley Taylor-Forbes 90).
Subs: Andreas Loizou, Alexander Cathline, Nikheil Kharshiladze

Goal: Dean Fenton 48

Booked: Jorge Djassi-Sambu 62

Thamesmead Town: Andy Walker, Farai Hallam (Marc Gorbell 90), Jay Porter, Alberto Pinto, Joe Vines, Richard Butler, Lee Prescott (Matthew Mitchell 85), Jack Hopkins, Paul Vines, Theo Fairweather-Johnson, Harrison Carnegie (Ryan Young 82).
Subs: Tom Spillane, Ainsley Everett

Goal: Jack Hopkins 59

Booked: Alberto Pinto 41

Attendance: 60
Referee: Mr Mark Mellor (Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire)
Assistants: Mr Neo Neophytou (Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire) & Mr Andrew Herb (Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey)