Nationwide Conference
06 September 2003

From the Nationwide Conference Website

Barnet manager Martin Allen was delighted with his team's performance following a hard fought goalless draw at home to Accrington Stanley.

Both teams had clear-cut chances to take all the points but a combination of poor finishing and good defending meant that the points were shared.

The game saw both teams trying to play attractive passing football on a pitch with extra zip due to early drizzle.

"I see this as a good points gained," said Barnet boss Allen. "They came here looking for a draw and they got it.

"I see it as a back handed compliment when teams come here to play us with that attitude."
Giuliano Grazioli, the country's current top scorer, should have scored on the half hour but was prevented by superb point blank saves by Accrington Stanley keeper Jon Kennedy after a scramble in the box.

Accrington Stanley themselves could have taken the lead in the first half but Rory Prendergast failed to capitalise on a poor goal clearance from Barnet keeper Daniel Naisbitt and dragged his shot wide of the goal.

Second Half

After the break, Barnet put a lot of pressure on the Accrington goal and spent the first 15 minutes of the restart camped in the opposition half.

Accrington Stanley always looked dangerous on the break and the best opportunity of the game fell to Lutel James five minutes before the end.

James was clean through on goal but was denied by brave goalkeeping as Daniel Naisbitt saved with his feet on the penalty spot.

A draw looked to be a fair result and, while both managers were pleased with the performance of their teams, they will both be aware that in order to win this division they will need to convert hard fought draws into wins.

Match Photos

Twenty eight photos of the game by Chris Holland.

Stats

From Press Association

Bookings

Barnet

J.Gamble, 36, unsporting behaviour
G.Grazioli, 85, unsporting behaviour

Accrington Stanley

R.Williams, 17, unsporting behaviour
A.Gouck, 39, persistent infringement
J.Kennedy, 80, timewasting
G.Armstrong, 90, unsporting behaviour

Teams

Barnet

D.Naisbitt, S.King, C.Plummer, D.Maddix, I.Hendon, I.Yakabu (T.Taggart 77), J.Gamble, L.Hogg (G.Lopez 70), B.Strevens, G.Grazioli, M.Williams

Unused substitutes: N.Sylla, M.Rooney, R.Millard

Accrington Stanley

J.Kennedy, S.Flitcroft (A.Proctor 61), J.Smith, P.Cavanagh, S.Hollis, P.Mullin, R.Prendergast, R.Williams, A.Gouck (G.Armstrong 73), P.Cook, L.James

Unused substitutes: S.Halford, B.Welch, J.Speare

Other Reports

If you know of any other reports please email me the link on info@bfcsa.net

I check unofficial sites that we link to when putting these reports up and link to the equivalent report if there is one (so long as it is original). Please see our links page if you want to exchange links.

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

Want to write Match Reports?

If you are interested in writing match reports for bfcsa.net then click here for more information.