Hounds home in on finals after double play-off win

Two home wins in two days - including a breathtaking defeat of Invicta - have put Haringey Greyhounds in pole position in the English League play-offs.

On Saturday, they sent the champions packing with a 7-5 victory, courtesy of two late goals at Ally Pally.

And 24 hours later they crushed Oxford 6-2.

"It's four wins from four," said delighted Hounds' player Jan Bestic, understandably thrilled at his team's unhindered progress so far in the play-offs.

"Beating Invicta in the play-offs is the stuff dreams are made of. There were no players missing from their team. We feel we're the best side around now."

The win came courtesy of two strikes from Nick Burton, two from Scott Cannam, and one each for Gary Dodds, Ricky Rutherford and Andy Johnson.

The scores were tied at 5-5 midway through the third period after the visitors had fought back from 5-3 down. But Burton's second strike followed by Cannam's second score nine seconds before the hooter made it safe.

The Greyhounds went on to beat Oxford 6-2 the following evening and now have an almost guaranteed place in the play-off finals.

Two Cannam strikes and one from Rutherford gave them an unassailable 3-1 first period lead.

Cannam, Burton and Johnson added three more in the last period. "We were shattered for that game, but we gave everything we had," said Bestic.

"They'd beaten us twice in the league this year, so it wasn't going to be easy."

Had Streatham won or drawn on Sunday, the Hounds would now be guaranteed a play-off spot.

But the result did not go their way and Haringey must now tie one of their remaining two games to go through.

First up, they face Oxford away on Sunday. "We're in the driving seat, but we don't want to get above ourselves," said Bestic. "We're not through until we've done the business at Oxford."

jonny.weeks@hamhigh.co.uk