ConIFA World Cup Group C
Coles Park, Haringey
Admission: £11.00
Programme: £5.00 (covering entire tournament)
Attendance: 400 (estimate)
Match Rating: 4
With domestic fixtures ending at the end of May, with the FA forcing a curfew on all competitive men’s football throughout the month of June, June usually represents a month of rest from football. However, this year the hosting of the ConIFA World Football Cup at grounds across London offered me the opportunity to extend my season by a further two weekends, starting with two group stage matches today.
Having previously visited all host stadia to be used in the competition, out of a choice today of the home grounds of Carshalton Athletic, Bracknell Town, Slough Town, Haringey Borough and Enfield Town, I chose visits to the latter two, as they would be the easiest to combine for a double – as well as being attractive fixtures in their own right. For the first game I headed for Coles Park, home of Haringey Borough today, for a 2 o'clock fixture. My only previous visit was back in 2012, when the ground hosted Step 5 football, and various improvements have been made as the club has progressed into step 4 and has just won promotion to the Isthmian League Premier Division. The ground has more of an enclosed feel about it now, with quite an attractive wooden turnstile block situated next to the main stand, painted in yellow and green club colours and although the seating offers good elevation, there are supporting pillars and railings along the from to get in the way of the view. Behind the stand there is a separate building containing the clubhouse. The ground is enclosed by metal fencing panels, and there is only hard standing around three sides of the ground. Beyond the main stand, there is burger van, and then a covered standing area towards the corner flag. The ground is rather scruffy and has little aesthetic appeal, but it serves its purpose. A plastic pitch has been installed since my last visit. An 84 page programme was produced by the organisers covering the whole tournament, and while £5 may initially seem on the expensive side, it proved decent value for money, packed full of information about the competition, its history and the participating teams – all invaluable information for a tournament the vast majority of visitors would know next to nothing about. It was also very attractively and professionally produced, with a nice glossy, hardened cover.
ConIFA is an organisation that administers the game for often generally unrecognised nations, regions and peoples that do not and usually cannot belong to FIFA, and this World Football Cup followed a qualifying format, although some teams were offered wild cards to participate. This match had plenty intriguing about it. Székely Land is a region in central Romania inhabited mainly by Hungarians – the Székelys – and their football team is currently ranked fifth in the ConIFA world rankings. Matabeleland is located in the western part of Zimbabwe, and their participation in this tournament was in doubt right up until they were due to fly out, having to rely on crowdfunding appeals and successful visa applications, but their presence promised to bring a welcome dose of brightness to the competition. In their opening fixtures of the tournament on Thursday, today’s teams fared rather differently – Székely Land winning 4-0 against rank outsiders Tuvalu, while Matabeleland lost 1-6 against one of the tournament favourites Padania.
On a very hot and sticky afternoon, there was an early taste of the colourful, noisy afternoon I was to encounter as soon as I walked out of Wood Green underground station, to be confronted with a group of Szekely Land fans singing, passed them still in full voice as I passed them on the bus, and as they entered the ground. Indeed, this was to be a memorable occasion where they provided terrific support to their team, their area decorated with flags and they intermittently lets off flares in the Hungarian colours of green, white and red, while a small group of Matabeleland followers also gave great encouragement to their team throughout, some dressed in their traditional attire, as they danced and sang their support in a very African style, which contrasted really well with the more "Ultras" support of the Hungarians. After the national anthems were played, Matabeleland were certainly the quickest team out of the blocks, within the first minute a ball over the top saw their striker run onto it and the eventual powerful shot was diverted away for a corner. And soon after, a long ball drilled forward by the keeper found a forward who had sprung the offside trap, and he lobbed the keeper as he came out to meet him, but the goalbound shot was cleared by a defender. And indeed, Matabeleland looked by the far the most likely to score in the opening stages, producing some excellent, free-flowing, fearless attacking, although their unorthodox defending looked very unlikely to maintain a clean sheet. The game changing moment came on 23 minutes, which perhaps would spoil the game as a spectacle and as an even contest. A ball down the left wing sent Szilard Magyari clear and as the keeper came racing well out of his area, Magyari chipped the ball over him to send the ball towards goal, but was cleared by a defender. However, Magyari was flattened by the keeper just after he struck at goal, and the referee pulled the game back to award a free kick and send the keeper off. That free kick came to nothing, but seven minutes, Lorand Fulop ran onto a low ball into the box, only to be brought down from behind, and a penalty was awarded. Fulop himself fired the ball into the left side of the goal, despite the keeper going the right way. From then on, it was to prove a difficult afternoon for the Africans, as Szekely Land doubled their lead on 40 minutes, Arthur Gyorgyi firing in a free kick full of dip and swerve which deceived the keeper as it nestled in the bottom right corner of the goal. And two minutes later, the game was put beyond all realistic doubt. A ball down the left sent the forward clear as he bore down towards the left outer corner of the penalty area, and he cooly passed the ball low to Laszlo Hodgyai, who tapped the ball into the net.
Szekely Land soon made it four after the break, on 53 minutes. A defender got into a tangle as he tried to deal with a cross from the right into the box, and Magyari pounced to fire the ball over the keeper and into the net. They had other decent chances to extend their lead but were not ruthless enough, and Matabeleland also had a couple of good chances to grab a consolation, but in the end, it was Szekely Land who had the final say with their fifth of the game on 88 minutes. The ball was chipped over the defence for Hodgyai to run onto and he just managed to get a shot away before the keeper managed to get in the way at the edge of the area, and the ball trickled into the net.
This result, and Padania beating Tuvalu 8-0 in the later game here, meant that Szekely Land were guaranteed progression to the quarter finals, and the top two teams will play off tomorrow decide who will progress as group winners. Matabeleland will play Tuvalu in a battle of the minnows, and with a decent chance of claiming a win heading into the placement matches if they can recreate their attacking flair shown at times today. Apparently, the party atmosphere continued well after the final whistle, with the players staying on the pitch to celebrate with their fans, with the Matabeleland supporters also joining in with the singing, but unfortunately I had to make a quick exit to make my second game at Enfield on time. But this was a thoroughly entertaining way to begin my experience of this ConIFA World Football Cup 2018, with an entertaining game on the pitch and a wonderful clash of cultures off of it, and I looked forward for more of the same at Enfield. I was certainly not to be disappointed.
Video highlights of this game can be viewed by clicking here.
Szekely Land soon made it four after the break, on 53 minutes. A defender got into a tangle as he tried to deal with a cross from the right into the box, and Magyari pounced to fire the ball over the keeper and into the net. They had other decent chances to extend their lead but were not ruthless enough, and Matabeleland also had a couple of good chances to grab a consolation, but in the end, it was Szekely Land who had the final say with their fifth of the game on 88 minutes. The ball was chipped over the defence for Hodgyai to run onto and he just managed to get a shot away before the keeper managed to get in the way at the edge of the area, and the ball trickled into the net.
This result, and Padania beating Tuvalu 8-0 in the later game here, meant that Szekely Land were guaranteed progression to the quarter finals, and the top two teams will play off tomorrow decide who will progress as group winners. Matabeleland will play Tuvalu in a battle of the minnows, and with a decent chance of claiming a win heading into the placement matches if they can recreate their attacking flair shown at times today. Apparently, the party atmosphere continued well after the final whistle, with the players staying on the pitch to celebrate with their fans, with the Matabeleland supporters also joining in with the singing, but unfortunately I had to make a quick exit to make my second game at Enfield on time. But this was a thoroughly entertaining way to begin my experience of this ConIFA World Football Cup 2018, with an entertaining game on the pitch and a wonderful clash of cultures off of it, and I looked forward for more of the same at Enfield. I was certainly not to be disappointed.
Video highlights of this game can be viewed by clicking here.
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