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Nationwide Conference We have two reports for you for this match! Report #1 By Hector J Boyce The large number of traveling Aldershot fans were eager for 3 points after we buried them 3-2 at home, courtesy of Simon King's long distance volley. Barnet were missing Hatch, who was on the bench due to injury. Ben Strevens was starting instead of Dwane Lee who dropped to the bench, meaning Bailey would partner Sinclair in central midfield. The Away fans were nearly rewarded for their journey when in as early as the second minute, King slipped and Yakubu attempted a frail back pass, letting through Jake Robinson. Fortunately, Tynan read the situation and raced out to clear the ball. Barnet created a good chance in the Eighth minute. The ball Bounced over Brett Johnson to Lee Roache. He turned inside two men and slipped a ball through to Dean Sinclair who didn't have the space to express himself. His shot was saved by Nikki Bull. This move gave Roache a new burst of confidence and he lead the attack on a number of occasions, with Grazioli playing slightly further back than he normally does, becoming more involved with the game. In The 14th minute Scott Tynan made the double save of the season. Bailey gave away the ball on the edge of the area, which was picked up by Adrian Caceres. He turned his man and shot, forcing Tynan to stretch fully down to his right. The ball fell to Challinor, who anyone would have backed to score, Tynan had different ideas though, smothering Challinor's effort for a corner. The Breakthrough came in the 19th minute. A spectacular team goal, and relief from Ben Strevens who has been struggling to get his name on the score-sheet this season. Yakubu started the move, heading the ball down to Bailey. Bailey cunningly looped the ball over his man before feeding it to Dean Sinclair. Sinclair spotted Graham on the left, who managed to takes it past his man. Graham's vision was superb to spot Strevens coming up at the far post who made no mistake, hammering the ball just inside the post, giving Nikki Bull no chance. Sinclair received a yellow card in the 22nd minute for a tackle which did not even make contact with the Aldershot player, also frustrated with the referee for not playing advantage. A poor decision by the ref, but also from dean Sinclair. Barnet dominated the rest of the half. A great display from Ian Hendon who was getting very involved in the attack, coming down the wing on a number of occasions. Solid stuff also from Bailey, who put in some crunching tackles. Second Half One change from Aldershot at half time, Dwain Clarke coming on to replace Crittenden. Barnet started the second half brightly, winning a series of corners, in search for the second goal. It nearly came in the 56th minute when a free-kick was played down the left to Richie Graham, who was excelling in the second half. His deflected cross was headed back across the area by Ben Strevens. Lee Roache seemed to rise off the ground, trying his luck at his second bicycle kick of the afternoon. It was cleared off the line by an Aldershot defender. 2 minutes later, and Barnet were 2-0 up. Graham won the ball from Tarkan Mustafa, and skipped past him as he tried to win it back. He took the ball to the left by-line, and looked up to see Grazioli charging into the box. Grazioli placed his volley into the bottom left, sending Nikki Bull the wrong way. Aldershot managed to pull back a scappy goal 3 minutes later in the 61st. King couldn't quite deal with the looping cross. A shame, because apart from this, and this he had a good game. The Ball fell to Jake Robinson who knocked the ball in. The 75th minute arrived, and Sinclair's contribution to the game finished after he was shown a second yellow for a push, having been agitated by the lackluster timing of some of the Aldershot challenges. Dwane Lee was subsequently brought on for Lee Roache to fill the gap in the midfield. For the next 20 minutes Barnet withheld heavy pressure. An Aldershot corner raced in front of the goal just before 90 minutes was up. Jon Challinor hit the inside post. Everyone gasped for breath, apart from the East Terrace who had been chanting endlessly for the best side of 15 minutes. Injury time came, but Barnet were still far from safe. Tynan made a heroic save when he fisted away Caceres' top corner bound effort. Underhill was finally graced with the full-time whistle, to the relief of fans and players alike. It seemed as though we had been hanging on for ages, but the reality was it was a game Barnet dominated, and ultimately deserved to win. Barnet played well, and it was nice to see us return to the form we enjoyed so much in the earlier part of the season. The new formation worked wonders, and Ben Strevens did himself proud, and Bailey seemed comfortable in central midfield. Barnet attacked well, but what was just as noticeable was the commitment off the ball as well. We closed down Aldershot, not giving them any time or space to play their game. A number of perfectly timed sliding tackles was another difference between the two sides, notably from Ian Hendon and Nicky Bailey. There is still a long way to go, we played like we were in a different league against Aldershot, and who knows, fingers crossed - maybe this time next year we will be! MOTM: Ben Strevens Report #2 By Iain Dalziel Barnet recorded their first win in five weeks, by putting in a fine performance against fellow promotion chasers, Aldershot Town. Aldershot went into the game in eight place, although only two points off second place Accrington, but fourteen behind Barnet. This defeat surely sending Terry Brown's side's title challenge. The Bees had a full squad, except for injured Damien Batt, to choose from and Fairclough made two changes from the team that was thrashed at Accrington. Dwane Lee and Liam Hatch were relegated to the bench, although for Hatch this was largely due to an ankle problem. Ben Strevens and Lee Roache were brought in, Roache partnering Grazioli up front and Strevens playing right midfield. England non-league international Nicky Bailey moved into the centre of midfield alongside fellow England team mate, Dean Sinclair. When the game began both
sides settled down quickly, playing some neat passing
football. Aldershot were almost in front in the early
stages when Yakubu played the ball back to Tynan, with
little power. Shots number nine chased down the poor ball
from the Bees centre back, but Scott Tynan rushed After Aldershot's early half chance Barnet started to go forward. In the tenth minute Sinclair had a great chance to open the scoring. Put through by Roache the Bees midfielder should have put away his tenth of the season, but hit his shot almost straight at the advancing Nikki Bull who pushed the shot round the post for a corner. The Bees were buzzing
now and after a good spell they took the lead in the
nineteenth minute. A Richie Graham run and low cross
found Strevens on the other side of the box. Strevens,
who last scored on the 9th of October kept a cool head
and blasted the ball past Nikki Bull to send the Bees
fans wild. From the players celebrations it showed just
how glad he was to break his Barnet were still looking good after they took the lead, giving Aldershot no chance to respond with a quick equaliser. For the majority of the rest of the first half Barnet still looked the far better side, Bull had to make a superb acrobatic save from a close range Grazioli effort and Ian Hendon went fairly close with an ambitious effort from twenty yards. However, Barnet couldn't double their lead before the break and went off 1-0 up at half time. Second Half The second half started pretty much as the first half had ended. Barnet were playing some excellent passing football and if anyone was going to score the Bees were looking the more likely side. In the fiftieth minute Sinclair once again had a superb opportunity. An excellent pass by Graham was dummied by Strevens for Hendon to receive it on the right wing. The Bees captain made a charging run before hitting a low cross into the box. The ball went across Bull and looked certain to be put away by Sinclair. However, he misjudged his slide to reach the pass and the ball ran harmlessly out of play. Despite the early warning from Barnet, Aldershot still didn't respond and in the fifty eighth minute they were severely punished when Giuliano Grazioli made it two. A ball in from the left wing found the Conference top scorer totally unmarked and he side footed the ball past the helpless Nikki Bull. After an hour of Barnet being on top Aldershot finally came into the game and began to show why they've done so well in the past two seasons. Three minutes after conceding the second, number four, Robinson got the Hampshire side back into, making it 2-1 and with a third of the game remaining they had a good chance getting something. The Shots now were coming forward in numbers, pressing the Barnet midfield back into their own half. A well struck long range effort was tipped over the bar from Tynan with twenty minutes to go and it was clear to see the Bees were going to have to battle hard to hold on. However, Barnet's cause was not helped in the slightest when the influential Dean Sinclair was given the first red card of his professional career in the seventy fourth minute. The Bees midfielder was judged to have pushed an opponent and the referee, Mr. Deadman felt it was worthy of a second yellow card for Sinclair. The ex-Norwich man will now miss Tuesday's trip to York City. This gave Aldershot a great chance to snatch something and Fairclough quickly took of Roache for Dwane Lee, to fill the gap in the midfield, meaning Grazioli was now playing as a lone striker. Aldershot were now
looking very dangerous, but the Barnet players were
determined to hold on. Excellent tackles from the likes
of Bailey, Strevens and Clist made things very difficult
for the Shots to create a clear chance. Numerous crosses
went to waste as the time ticked away. Barnet took of a In the stoppage time, after going close from a corner a few minutes earlier, Aldershot had a good chance to grab a point. With Tynan down Sills took aim just inside the box, with only Yakubu on the line. However, the clearly hurt scouse 'keeper leapt up and knocked the ball out for a corner. This did little to help his injury as he lay in a heap on the floor. Though sub goalkeeper Shane Gore began warming up, after a few minutes of treatment Scott Tynan got back to his feet for the corner. In desperation even Aldershot's 'keeper Nikki Bull came up, yet the ball was headed out by Bailey. This was the last time Aldershot had the ball in Barnet penalty area. Hatch took the ball down the left hand side, was tackled and then fouled trying to win the ball back. The free kick was played forward, but was hit straight back into the Shots half. Four minutes was up and Mr. Deadman blew his whistle for full time. The home fans and
players were clearly delighted, not only to win, but also
to end their losing run. With eleven games to go Paul
Fairclough will be reminding his players they've won
nothing yet, although today could prove to be a very
significant result for the Bees. Barnet played some
excellent For Aldershot their promotion challenge is by no means over, but it would seem this result will end their title dream. This result, though not as high scoring as some could well be considered Barnet's best, to date, at home this season. Today Barnet really showed their quality. Iain Dalziel's Man of the Match Ben Strevens: it's not been a very good season for Strevens, today's goal only his second of the season. However, this game will go down as one of his best and definitely his best on the right side of midfield. The Bees number ten worked hard all afternoon, finished his goal superbly and wasn't afraid to get stuck in. Ben Strevens did the Bees proud today. Bookings Barnet D Sinclair (24) Aldershot A Caceres (73) Ref: D Deadman (Cambridgeshire) Teams Barnet Tynan, Hendon, King, Yakubu, Clist, Strevens, Bailey, Sinclair, Graham, Grazioli (Hatch 82), Roache (Lee 77) Subs Not Used: Gore, Charles, Lopez Aldershot Bull, Mustafa, Warburton (Lee 78), Antwi, Johnson, Nick Crittenden (Clarke 45), Challinor, Watson (Rendell 90), Caceres, Sills, Robinson Subs Not Used: Glasspool, Giles Match Stats Possession: Shots: Corners: Fouls: Bookings: Other Reports Footymad If you know of any reports please email me the link on info@bfcsa.net Want to write Match Reports? If you are interested in writing match reports for bfcsa.net then click here for more information. |
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