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Coca Cola League Two By Robin Thomas Barnet's miserable run of form continued with a 4 goal thrashing at the hands of fellow League 2 strugglers Mansfield Town. The lacklustre Bees were thoroughly outplayed by a Mansfield Town side who will surely not meet more benevolent opponents all season. A low key opening to the game was enlivened only by some flashes of the electric pace of the Mansfield forward Simon Brown, which proved to be ominously portentous of the problems he would cause the Bees’ back line throughout the afternoon. After 11 minutes of largely cagey and turgid football between two struggling teams, a combination of Brown’s prodigious speed and a controversial refereeing decision gave Richie Barker the chance to put Town ahead from the penalty spot. The referee adjudged Simon King to have fouled Brown as the two players raced towards the goal-line ‘shoulder-to-shoulder.’ From the stands the decision appeared harsh on King, to whom insult was added to injury as he was shown his fifth yellow card of the season and now faces a suspension. Scott Tynan had no more luck with his attempt to save Barker’s resultant penalty, as he was only able to push the ball onto the underside of the crossbar and had to watch in anguish as it bounced over the line. The goal imbued the Stags with confidence they had been lacking, and they almost doubled their lead within a minute as Brown drove wide of the near post after escaping the Barnet defence once more. Yellow shirts were first to the ball all over the pitch, and Barnet looked a shadow of the side that had romped to the Nationwide Conference title. Their sole goal scoring opportunity of the half came when Nicky Bailey’s looping header from Charles’s deep cross fell onto the top of the net, to the relief of the stranded Kevin Pressman. The reversion to the 4-5-1 system of earlier in the campaign was simply not working, although whether this was due to the players’ performance on the day or any inherent weaknesses of the system is a matter of interpretation for fans. And interpret it they will. That the Bees trailed by just the one goal at the half time interval was thanks to an excellent double save from Scott Tynan as he kept out efforts from Brown and then Uhlenbeek. Bees fans could only hope that the Scouse shot-stopper’s team-mates, fortunate to be within a goal of their opponents, would raise their own performance levels after a forgettable first period. Second Half Barnet lined up for the second period in a 4-4-2 formation as the subdued Richie Graham made way for Liam Hatch. The impact of this move was immediate, as the Bees wrestled the initiative from the home side and dominated the opening 15 minutes of the half. This spell culminated in a clear goal scoring opportunity for ace marksman Giuliano Grazioli, who broke clear of the Stags defence in pursuit of Hatch’s excellent flicked header. However, with the not inconsiderable figure of former Sheffield Wednesday keeper Pressman bearing down on him, Grazioli mis-controlled and the chance was gone. Within a minute, the Bees found themselves 2 goals down. A swift break down the Mansfield right, where Uhlenbeek enjoyed the upper hand over Charles throughout, resulted in the winger’s low cross being stabbed home by Brown. The goal was cruel on Barnet, who had controlled the second half to this point. Their response, however, was to let their heads drop and at no point did they appear likely to get back into the match. Indeed, it was Mansfield who now played with the greater urgency and they were rewarded with a third goal in the 68th minute. A short corner routine was too good for the statuesque Barnet defence, and allowed Rundle the chance to shoot under Tynan from a tight angle. Barnet did have the ball in the back of the net in the 71st minute, but Hatch was harshly adjudged to have impeded Pressman as Louis Soares’ inswinging left-footed corner found its way over the goal line. While the Bees scarcely deserved a goal, Soares himself is at least due considerable credit for a bright performance, and remaining a lively presence on the right wing while his team-mates around him struggled. He produced further good work in the 78th minute as his cross picked out substitute Jason Norville 3 yards from goal. Only the Trinidadian knows how he contrived to put his header wide of the target. Richie Barker piled on the embarrassment for the Bees in the 81st minute as he doubled his goal tally for the afternoon, beating Charles to the evergreen Adrian Littlejohn’s through ball and rounding Tynan to make it four. The ignominy was almost complete five minutes later as Dwane Lee’s lamentable pass across his own penalty area was picked up by Brown, and as the impressive forward shot wide, one almost felt he did so out of sympathy for his sorry opponents, or an embarrassment at having been presented with such a straightforward task. A day to forget, then,
for Barnet, who have now played 6 matches since their
last away victory. Their may be better times to take on
the biggest club in the world at their own ground.
However, perhaps the chance to take on Manchester United
at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ will provide the
Bees with the inspiration that was absent from their
efforts on a desperate afternoon in the East Midlands. Bookings Barnet S King (11) Mansfield S Brown (25) Ref: C Boyeson Teams Barnet S Tynan, I Hendon, S King (72 D Batt) , A Charles, I Yakubu, N Bailey (76 J Norville), D Lee, D Sinclair, R Graham (45 L Hatch) , L Soares, G Grazioli Unused subs: R Flitney, B Strevens Mansfield K Pressman, G Jelleyman, A Baptiste, J Buxton, J Hjelde, G Uhlenbeek (86 S Dawson), G Coke, A Rundle, J D'Laryea, R Barker, S Brown (80 A Littlejohn) Unused subs: A Birchall, J White, K Jacobs Match Stats Other League Two Scores Other Reports Barnet Mansfield Independent If you know of any reports please email me the link on info@bfcsa.co.uk Want to write Match Reports? If you are interested in writing match reports for bfcsa.co.uk then click here for more information. |
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