Nationwide Conference
Saturday 12 April 2003

By Callum Williams
Pictures by Chris Holland

LET'S be generous and just write this defeat by already relegated Kettering off as "just one of those days".

The Poppies came to Underhill on Saturday and packed their defence hoping to go away with a point, but instead they went away rubbing their hands and clutching three points they scarcely deserved.

Granted Kettering battled bravely, defended boldly and had former Mansfield goalkeeper Ian Bowling in inspired form, but Barnet did everything but put the ball in the back of the net from a hatful of chances that should have been enought to have buried their opponents.

It could even be argued that Kettering had one shot on target and scored twice!

Barnet piled on the pressure from the start with Mark Gower, Ismail Yakabu and Junior Agogo all getting an early sight of goal.

The Kettering defence was also grateful to give away several corners during this frantic opening spell.

After 25 minutes and very much against the run of play, Kettering won a free-kick on their left for a foul by Lee Pluck on Lee Clarke. Craig Norman hoisted the kick into the Barnet area where total confusion reigned as two home defender went for the same ball and Matthew Langston finished up heading into his own net.

This only seemed like a minor setback for Barnet as they continued to press for the remainder of the first half, forcing several more corners as they went all out for an equaliser that never came.

Second Half

The second half continued pretty much the same with Gower having a shot saved and another blocked, while Keith Rowland also had an effort gathered by Bowling.

Then the Bees were caught by a sucker punch as Kettering counter-attacked on 68 minutes and a superb piece of skill by Clarke ended with him scoring with a 20 yard shot that even brought warm applause from many of the Barnet faithful.

Toby Oshitola was soon introduced into the Barnet attack in place of defender Pluck as the home side battled to rescue something from the wreckage.

Even after Kettering had Norman shown a straight red card for a foul on Frazer Toms after 78 minutes, there always seemed to be a visiting body to get in the way of all Barnet's best efforts.

The closing stages served to underline Bowling's superb form as he first tipped over a goalbound effort from Agogo and then punched Gower's dangerous inswinging corner out from under his crossbar.

In the end, it was the type of disappointing result for the Bees that even a disgraced Iraqi information minister would struggle to put a positive spin on.

Bookings

Barnet

No bookings

Kettering

Boyle Chong, 67 - foul*
C.Norman, 78, Red Card - professional foul

* This booking wasn't in the stats on the Nationwide Conference report but is on Barnet's official website report. Note that you will need to be registered with PTV to follow that link, see here for more information.

Teams

Barnet

D.Naisbitt, M.Langston, G.Butters, I.Yakabu, K.Rowland (C.Pope 85), L.Pluck (T.Oshitola 71), N.Midgley, M.Gower, L.Flynn, F.Toms, J.Agogo

Unused substitutes: L.Baimass, G.Lopez, C.Cashman

Kettering

I.Bowling, C.Norman, B.Solkhon, M.Haran, K.Colley (W.Diuk 14), M.Matthews, N.Inman, M.Boyle-Chong (S.Dancy 84), L.Clarke, A.Revell, M.McKenzie (V.Asombang 65)

Unused substitutes: D.Gordon, W.Gourlay

Other Reports

BBC
Nationwide Conference

I am no longer linking to Barnet's official site's match reports. Please see here for more information.

Below are some pictures from the game.

Butters goes for goal