End Of Season Round Up (Part Two)

Last updated : 05 May 2014 By Jaybee

So could Martin Allen work his magic and gain the Bees an unlikely play off place? After the 2-0 win at Hereford, Barnet travelled to play off favourites, Cambridge United the following Saturday and the Bees gained a valuable point coming back from 1-0 down to draw 1-1 thanks to a stunning second half strike from loannee, Connor Dymond. The Barnet line up was; Stack, Yiadom, Stephens, Gjokaj, Johnson, Vilhete (Muggleton 61), Marsh-Brown, Harper, Byrne (Dymond 34), Hyde, Nurse (Crawford 61). Sam Muggleton made his debut after arriving from Gillingham on loan. Barnet were now 9th but only two points off of the play offs.

Next up were Forest Green Rovers at the Hive and a fine 2-1 win gave Barnet seven points from three matches under Allen. Valentin Gjokaj scored his first goal for the Bees and Mark Byrne grabbed the winner ten minutes from time after FGR had equalised. The Barnet side was; Jupp, Yiadom, Stephens, Gjokaj, Johnson (Abdulla 69),Vilhete, Marsh-Brown, Harper, Byrne, Weston, Hyde (Saville 87), Nurse (Muggleton 69).  Barnet climbed one place up to 8th with this win but were now 3 points behind FC Halifax in fifth place.

A trip to Southport followed on Tuesday and the Bees needed a win really to maintain their play-off challenge, while Southport needed points to stave off relegation. However, in reality, the Bees could count themselves fortunate to take a point in a 1-1 draw when it was a match they could quite easily have lost after going behind after only three points. Mark Byrne equalised on the stroke of half time but a point was not what had been hoped for and kept the Bees in 8th place now 2 points behind Halifax who had a game in hand. The Barnet team was; Stack, Yiadom, Stephens, Gjokaj, Vilhete (Muggleton 57), Marsh-Brown, Abdulla (Dymond 54), Harper, Byrne, Weston, Hyde (Saville 87), Nurse. 

The dropped points made the game on the Saturday even more important as it was a home match with FC Halifax and it was vital that the Bees win if they were to stand a chance of the play-offs. Sadly, Barnet crashed to their worst defeat of the season losing 4-0 and the result left them five points behind Halifax with just three games remaining and effectively out of the running for the play offs.

During the week, Ulrich Landvreugd departed after having arrived at the club in October 2012 as part of Edgar Davids’ backroom team. Barnet travelled to Nuneaton on the Saturday and gained a fine 1-0 win with a stunning goal from Valentin Gjokaj, who scored from 25 yards. The Barnet side was; ; Jupp, Yiadom, Stephens, Gjokaj, Muggleton , Allen (Vilhete 80), Abdulla (Dymond 54), Warren, Gambin, Crawford, Lowe( Luisma 60 (Dymond 79). 

Barnet remained in 8th place and still five points adrift of the play-offs and by the time of the televised home game with Braintree Town any slight play off place had gone, though their opponents still had an outside chance. Keanu Marsh-Brown scored a stunning goal with a superb strike from outside the penalty area to put the Bees ahead in the first half but a very soft penalty gave Braintree a point in a 1-1 draw that left the Bees in 8th place. The Barnet side was; Stack, Yiadom, Stephens, Gjokaj, Johnson (Muggleton 79) , Marsh-Brown, Harper (Luisma 66), Weston, Byrne, Hyde (Allen 65), Nurse. 

The last game of the season was away at Sincil Bank playing Lincoln City, who were safely in mid table. In a match with a number of stoppages for crowd incursions on the pitch, Barnet gained a deserved point in a 3-3 draw with a late goal, ironically in time added on for the crowd invasions. Barnet other goals came from Ahmed Abdulla, from the penalty spot, which put the Bees ahead on 6 minutes and a first ever senior goal from Iffy Allen in the second half which brought the score back to 2-3. Barnet ended a rather disappointing season in 8th place, a position some Barnet fans may well have settled for at the beginning of the season but the club must have been looking for a play-off place at least. The Barnet side was; Jupp, Yiadom, Stephens, Gjokaj, Vilhete , Allen, Warren, Abdulla (Byrne 59), Gambin, Crawford (Luisma 58), Lowe (Hyde 59). 

The end of the season saw a number of comings and goings (see elsewhere on Barnet Mad for more details). The most notable were new/renewed contracts for Luisma, Andy Yiadom and David Stephens and the transfer listing of Keanu Marsh-Brown and Jake Hyde, who in spite of this, is being offered a new contract.

Keanu Marsh Brown and Jake Hyde were joint leading scorers for the season with 12 goals apiece, with Mark Byrne third with 5 goals. David Stephens was the only player to play in all 46 Conference games.