Nationwide Conference
17 October 2003

By Callum Williams

Barnet made the long journey to Hilton Park on Saturday and got their promotion push back on the road - thanks in no small part to Guiliano Grazioli's second hat-trick of the season.

In front of a sparse crowd of less than 350, Barnet should have had the three points in the bag well before half-time, but were guilty of a catalogue of missed chances.

Grazioli and Liam Hatch, making his first Conference start in the Bees' colours, were both guilty of glaring misses, Leigh keeper Kelly denied Grazioli with a good block and Chris Plummer planted a firm header against the crossbar.

Leigh had a couple of chances, including an effort from Barrowclough that was brilliantly turned aside by Ricky Milliard, who was also making his first appearance of the season in the Bees' goal.

Second Half

It took the Bees just three minutes to get on the scoresheet after the break when Grazioli netted from close range after Simon King's inswinging corner had created havoc in the Leigh goalmouth.

On 62 minutes, Grazioli fastened on to a through ball from Mark Rooney and left a defender sitting on his backside before cheekily lifting the ball over the advancing Kelly to make the score 2-0.

Two minutes later, Grazioli completed his hat-trick and effectively ended the game as a contested when he accepted a pass from skipper Ian Hendon and blasted the ball through the exposed Kelly.

Minutes later, Grazioli, who had taken a slight knock, gave way to teenager Soloman Henry. Barnet also brought on Peter Beadle for Hatch and Tony Taggart for Ismail Yakubu with 10 minutes to go.

It was Henry whose pass fell for Lewis Hogg to score Barnet's fourth goal in the 83rd minute as he slotted home after his first effort had been half stopped by Kelly. It was not only Hogg's first goal for the club, but also the first score by any Bees' midfielder in a League game this season.

All that remained was for Leigh's leading scorer David McNiven to score a last-minute penalty after handball by Hendon.

All in all it ended up a satifactory afternoon's work for the Bees in their quest for a promotion place, while, as for Leigh, whose manager Mark Patterson quit after the game, it looks like its going to be "grim oop north" for the rest of the season.

Photos

Thirty six photos of the game.

Bookings

Barnet

None

Leigh RMI

None

Teams

Barnet

Ricky Millard, Ian Hendon, Ishmail Yakabu (Tony Taggart 81), Simon King, Christopher Plummer, Mark Rooney, Danny Maddix, Joe Gamble, Lewis Hogg, Giuliano Grazioli (Solomon Henry 70), Liam Hatch (Peter Beadle 81)

Unused Substitutes: G Lopez, S Gore

Leigh RMI

Gary Kelly, Wayne Maden, Gerry Harrison, Neil Durkin, Steve Redmond, Martin Lancaster (Warren Peyton 65), Paul Shepherd, Dave Tickle (Andrew Roscoe 85), Carl Barrowclough, Ian Monk, David McNiven

Unused Substitutes: C Downey, S Coburn, P Starbuck

Other Reports

Nationwide's Conference Site
James' Mini Site (or whatever it's called?)
BRIANSUPSJHONSTILL

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