Haringey Borough 1-2 Maldon and Tiptree
On a bitterly cold Tuesday evening at Coles Park, Haringey Borough suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat to Maldon & Tiptree, with the winning goal heartbreakingly scored in the dying seconds of the match.
Manager Tom Loizou made three changes from Saturday’s draw against Waltham Abbey. New goalkeeper Jack West Astuti replaced Michael Acquah between the sticks, Georgios Aresti came in for Tosin Olufemi, and loan signing Uko Oji led the line in place of Joe Waight, who was sidelined with a minor concussion.
And it was Uko who had the first big chance of the game for Haringey just 11 minutes in. Breaking free of the Maldon & Tiptree defence, he delicately chipped the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper, but his effort just lacked the power needed to cross the line as the opposition’s right back raced back to make a crucial goal-line clearance and deny Uko his first goal for the club.
The visitors responded with a pair of threatening attacks from their lively left-back, Louie Arrowsmith. His pinpoint cross found the Maldon & Tiptree captain, Matthew Pryce, unmarked from about six yards out, but his header sailed over the bar. Moments later, Arrowsmith delivered a dangerous low ball across the box, but their No. 10 fluffed his lines and failed to make proper contact with his strike.
Despite the opponents’ pressure, it was Boro who took the lead in the 24th minute. Cutting in from the left, Aresti danced past two defenders before being brought down on the edge of the box. Dusting himself off, he powered the resulting free-kick through the Maldon & Tiptree wall and into the bottom corner to put Borough 1-0 up. Solid defensive work, particularly from Taiwo-Pratt, ensured Haringey carried their lead into the break.
Unfortunately, this lead wouldn’t last for long as Maldon & Tiptree equalized 15 minutes after the restart. A poorly cleared in-swinging corner fell to Darren Phillips, who rifled a shot into the top-right corner of the net, leaving Astuti with no chance.
Haringey pushed forward in search of a second goal and came close on several occasions. Derek Asamoah headed against the outside of the post from an Aresti cross, while his low snapshot was expertly pushed wide by the Maldon goalkeeper. Matty Young also tried his luck from distance but his effort flew just wide.
As the match entered stoppage time, it seemed destined to end level. However, in the 96th minute, another corner proved Haringey’s undoing. Astuti initially did well to deny a near-post flick-on, and a second headed effort was well cleared off the line. But the ball fell kindly to Phillips once more, who smashed it low and hard past the Borough defence to snatch all three points for Maldon & Tiptree.
Haringey Borough now sit 19th in the table with a trip to league leaders Bury Town up next on Saturday 23rd November.
