Nationwide Conference
Saturday 19th October 3.00pm

By Daniel Fox

Barnet made it two wins on the bounce with a hard fought 2-1 victory at rock bottom Kettering. At one stage it looked like the Bees had thrown it all away but they ground out a result in the dying minutes through Wayne Purser.

Danny Naisbitt continued in goal for the Bees whose only change saw Jason Soloman replace the absent Danny Brown and Neil Midgley replace the absent Ben Strevens, who was struck down with flu. Craig Pope continued at rightback and there were places on the bench for Stuart Niven and Fraser Toms.

The Bees started well in what was to be an extremely dull first half and a better lay off from Gower at the back post to Agogo could have seen the Bees hit man open the scoring in the opening seconds. But former Bees favourite, Lee Howarth intercepted with ease after Purser did well to cross the ball in.

Kettering soon came into the game, but they created nothing that couldn't easily be dealt with by the Bees defence, with captain Greg Heald putting in a brilliant performance, forming an admirable partnership with Lee Pluck in the centre of defence.

Goal!

Danny Naisbitt was first called into action midway through the first half, diverting Neil Midgley's deflected back pass to safety after it looked destined for the back of the net. Simon Parker then met Shaun Murray's cross but put his header agonizingly the wrong side of the post.

Junior Agogo then put the Bees ahead of latching onto a delightful through ball from Gower. The Kettering fans weren't impressed with the linesman not flagging but Agogo kept his head and slotted past the advancing Kelly.

However, the dreadful officials went on to disallow two Wayne Purser goals, so all round there should be no complaints!!

Second Half

The second half wasn't the best either with Kettering dominating. Barnet went close through Wayne Purser putting a 20-yard shot just wide but the Bees then sat back and allowed Kettering to press on for an equalizer. Kettering should have equalized sooner than they did with Danny Naisbitt saving well from Simon Parker and with the goal gaping, Michael McKenzie headed the rebound over.

Equaliser

Greg Heald was then the hero, clearing Norman's bullet header off the line from and inswinging corner. But it was all in vein for the Bees as minutes later, Doolan was harshly adjudged to have fouled Murray on the edge of the box. Murray got up and placed an unstoppable shot into the top right corner of the net.

Late Winner

No-one in the ground would have sensed Barnet to pick themselves up and grab a winner but after sheer persistence they ended up coming away with all 3 points.

A late Gower corner was headed back into the danger area by Heald for Doolan to give Purser the opportunity to nod the ball home, sending the large Barnet contingent wild.

A hard fought victory for the Bees as Kettering are a great deal better than their league position suggests. It all looked lost once Kettering equalized, but Purser's late goal should hopefully kick-start the promotion push. With the injured victims now starting to coming back into the squad and Greg Heald back to looking like the defender we splashed out our record transfer fee for things are rapidly improving.

Squad

Naisbitt, Pluck, Heald, Soloman (Niven), Pope, Doolan (Bell), Gower, Midgley (Toms), Yakubu, Agogo, Purser

Unused Subs: Harrison, Oshitola