Noah Bercott sees the play-off chasing Blues win a local derby

A penalty area clash during the match between Wingate & Finchley and Haringey Borough — The Blues in action against Haringey Borough (Credit – Martin Addison)

After two long seasons looking down rather than up, Wingate & Finchley are on the cusp of a playoff spot following Saturday’s 1-0 victory over North London neighbours Haringey Borough.

With an unusually stale first 10 minutes it was clear that the Blues’ attacking trio were going to find it hard to put the ball in the back of the net all afternoon. But there was a good chance for the hosts in the 11th minute with some fantastic play by Elliot Long. He passed the ball to Ruben Carvalho who narrowly put ball wide of the right post from inside the box. The chance was followed by the first substitution of the game, with Ahmet Biler having to be replaced by Loic Hernandez with a recurrence of a previous injury.

From then on Wingate and Finchley began to create a few more chances in the first half, with relegated Haringey only able to hit the side netting. One of the best of these was in the 45th minute, when Carvalho whipped in a corner with Billy Cracknell heading the ball at goal, only to find a Haringey defender there to clear it off the line. But nevertheless, 0-0 was how the sides went in at half-time.

The players emerged for the second half with a look of determination, which later showed on the pitch. As by the 56th minute, Wingate and Finchley had struck for the opening goal. Rhamar Garrett-Douglas had found his way through two Haringey players to set up the tap in for Anointed Chukwu. It was a deserved lead for Wingate and Finchley, who hadn’t sparkled, but had been solid to that point.

Ten minutes later, however, they were hit with another injury, as Alkeo Bani was forced off, being replaced by Will Seager. It speaks to a relative spike in injuries in the last few weeks, and the Blues will be hoping this doesn’t impact them too much as they head to the business end of the season.

The second half progressed in a relatively calm way, with the Blues’ final chance of the game coming when Chukwu tried to double Wingate’s lead from outside the box. His shot went just wide however.

Chukwu’s lone goal was good enough to carry the day, with Wingate and Finchley’s defence shutting up shop for the whole game. The win leaves the Blues one point from a playoff spot, and the fight for the playoffs continues on 20th April in Margate. We finish off our campaign at home against Carshalton on 27th April, so come and join us as we battle to be playing National League South football next year.

Wingate & Finchley: Goode; Solomon; Cracknell; Bani (Seager 75’); Frempah; Frimpong; Garrett-Douglas; Carvalho; Chukwu; Long (Newton 59’); Biler (Hernandez 11’).

Unused Subs: Webb; Deslandes

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