Crowds of people descended on White Hart Lane last night friday to watch the only senior football team who plays at White Hart Lane.
It was the FA Cup First round match between Bostik League Premier team Haringey Borough versus League one team AFC Wimbledon that was televised live on BBC two with the TV and radio football pundits out in force BBC Dan Walker, Alex Scott, Dion Dublin and Kevin Kilcline and TALK SPORT Ian Abrahams the Moose. And of course our own Michael Yiakoumi and George Michaelides.
Haringey Borough have risen from the Essex Senior league to Bostik Premier and FA Cup live football it shows what the UK Cypriots Chairman Aki Achillea and manager Tom Loizou have achieved not forgetting lifelong Haringey Borough supporter and club Secretary John Bacon, assistant manager Dave Cumberbatch, Tucker O Donoghue, coach and John Fitsiou.
The biggest game of their lives Haringey Borough had kept AFC Wimbledon at bay for 89 minutes until a deflected effort from Mitchell Pinnock looped over Valery Pajetet to give the League One side the lead moments from the end.
Harsh on the hosts who had played so well.
Mitchell Pinnock’s 90th-minute FA Cup winner broke plucky Haringey Borough’s hearts and eased the pressure on AFC Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley.
The Dons – on a seven-match losing streak in League One – sit four divisions above their non-league opponents but struggled to break them down on a wet and windy Friday night at Coles Park.
Haringey, the ‘other’ team on White Hart Lane, had to ride their luck at times – Valery Pajetat in their goal making a number of fine saves and was man of the match.
And it looked like they had forced a replay before Pinnock’s deflected effort crept in at the near post.
On a night when free-flowing football was in abundance , Borough now full of confidence looked like they might continue a fairytale FA Cup run that began all the way back in August in the preliminary round.
Joseph Staunton had a second-half goal ruled out for offside and were now full of confidence
The Wimbledon winger Pinnock had already hit the bar in the first half with a free-kick and stung Pajetat’s palms in the second before his late intervention ended Borough hopes and secured the Dons’ passage into the second round.
HaringeyBorough are a team that care for our local community and they did us proud.
