A party atmosphere engulfed Coles Park Stadium as Haringey Borough took on local rivals Enfield Town in the Isthmian Premier Division’s own north London derby.
A John Nouble brace helped Haringey on their way to all three points as they remained in second place, five points clear of sixth-placed Carshalton Athletic in their play-off ambitions.
However, the encounter was not all plain sailing for Tom Loizou’s men.
On the 10-minute mark, the visitors took the lead via a catalogue of defensive errors by Haringey.
After initially failing to clear their lines following a corner, Matthew Johnson’s weak shot was misjudged by Haringey’s Cameroonian shot-stopper Valery Pajetet, trickling over the goal line.
Already a goal to the good, Enfield’s forward duo of Kezie Ibe and Billy Bricknell were in search of a second for Town, however Pajetet was up to the task of keeping the pair at bay.
Midway through the first period, Haringey drew level in spectacular circumstances.
After winning the ball from a napping Enfield defence, Kudus Oyenuga, on loan from Dartford, found the feet of Nouble, who embarked on a short run before unleashing a curled effort from 25 yards beyond the outstretched arm of Matt Nolan, crashing off the underside of the crossbar on the way in.
The strike, worthy of blessing any north London clash, seemed to revitalise Haringey and two minutes later, in the 25th minute, Oyenuga saw his long range effort tipped wide by Nolan.
On the stroke of half time, the pendulum swung once again when referee Mark Stevens adjudged the ball to have struck a Haringey arm in the box and blew for an Enfield spot-kick.
In redemption for his earlier mistake, Haringey’s Pajetat was equal to Bricknell’s penalty, holding onto the strike.
Haringey begun the second half on the front foot and on 56 minutes nearly went ahead, as Cypriot international Dimitrios Froxylias struck the post from long range following a driving run into the heart of the Enfield defence.
At the other end of the pitch, Town substitute Aaron Greene slalomed through a number of Haringey’s defenders.
Eight minutes from time, Haringey were awarded a penalty when debutant Lyle Della-Verde was cynically fouled by opposing number Mickey Parcell in an easy call for the officials.
Up stepped Nouble to convert, with Enfield keeper Nolan getting his fingertips to the penalty.
Two minutes later, Haringey sealed all three points as man of the moment Nouble made a terrific run through a tiring Enfield defence, playing an equally good ball to substitute Femi Akinwande, who slotted the ball past Nolan.
After failing to score in their previous two outings, Haringey’s fans will undoubtedly be delighted to be back in the goals, especially in front of a league record crowd of 875 for Boro at Coles Park.
Haringey Borough: Pajetet; Richards, Olufemi, Mitchell, Kirby; Rowe (Staunton 80), Aresti (Djassi-Sambu 68) Della-Verde; Oyenuga (Akinwande 73), Froxylias, Nouble.
Unused subs: Jackson, Barker.
Enfield Town: Nolan; Hatton, Rumens, Johnson, Weatherstone; Payne (Greene 59), Parcell, Blackman, Taaffe (Chaney 72); Ibe (Davison 80), Bricknell. Unused subs: Porter, Mulley.
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