Barnet are at home to Hereford United tomorrow afternoon in a League Two match. The Bees will be looking to get back on the winning trail in the league after losing at Chesterfield a fortnight ago. Last Saturday, they knocked Darlington out of the FA Cup 1at round, winning 3-1 at Underhill.
Hereford’s last league match saw them win 2-1 against Darlington at Edgar Street and last Saturday they knocked non-league, Sutton United out of the Cup winning 2-0 at Edgar Street. During the week they were involved in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, away at Leyton Orient. The Bulls won 3-2 on penalties after the match had ended 1-1, keeper, Adam Bartlett saving three penalties. So the Bulls come to Underhill on a bit of a run.
Hereford are currently 17th in the table and have a reasonable home record, but have yet to win away in the league with just three draws and no wins out of seven matches so far this season. They did however get a last minute draw at Rotherham so the Bees manager, Ian Hendon knows that there will be no room for complacency tomorrow afternoon as Barnet aim to maintain their unbeaten home record in the league. Barnet have won their last three league matches at Underhill without conceding a goal and will be looking to get back to winning ways in order to get back amongst the play off places.
Hereford are managed by John Trewick who succeeded their long serving manager, Graham Turner, who relinquished the helm after the club were relegated from League One last season, having only come up from League Two in 2008. Hereford had only won promotion from the Conference in 2006 and had taken just two seasons to win promotion again, but as with their previous stay in the football league after being elected in 1972, they have failed to establish themselves for any length of time outside of the bottom tier in the football league. Though they have played as high as the second tier in English football, they have spent 23 out of 27 seasons in the bottom tier.
During the summer, John Trewick has had to almost completely rebuild the Bulls’ squad and has carried this out by signing a mixture of experienced players such as midfield player Kenny Lunt from Crewe, Ryan Green from Bristol Rovers and Ryan Valentine from Darlington and a number of promising young players and has also used the loan system to strengthen his squad. However, the Bulls have struggled in the early part of the season but they do now seem to putting something of a run together. One of the players to look out for will be their promising midfield player Marc Pugh who as signed from Shrewsbury Town in the summer having had a period on loan at Edgar Street last season. He is having a fine season for the Bulls and has already scored 6 goals this season.
For tomorrow’s match, Trewick has a number of injury worries with midfield players, Johnny Godsmark, Sam Gwynne and Marc Pugh all having attention for injuries, while the Bulls’ boss is hopeful that full back, Ryan Valentine, who missed the Orient match, will be fit to play Barnet. However, French striker, Mathieu Manset is suspended while, Irish defender, Darren Dennehy is away on international duty. Meanwhile, Jamie Tolley faces a late test after being involved in a car crash during the week.
Barnet have been dealing with a flu scare all week which has hit keeper, Jake Cole as well as Ismail Yakubu, Kenny Gillet, Albert Jarrett and Clovis Kamdjo. However, all are expected to be fit tomorrow, though there are still doubts about right backs, Ryan O’Neill and Joe Devera, so left back, Ahmed Deen may have to fill in on the right side as he did last Saturday against Darlington. Meanwhile, Ian Hendon will be hoping from a starring performance from Albert Adomah who has declined a new contract offer with the Bees and now looks certain to move during the January transfer window. One player on the move is midfield player, Joe Tabiri who has joined Blue Square South club, Havant & Waterlooville on a month’s loan. Tabiri has made just one start this season, in the away match at Burton and has also made four appearances as a substitute.
Tomorrow’s match is really the sort of match that the Bees should be winning if they are going to mount a sustained challenge on the top of the table this season and after losing their last four away league matches, it is vital that their home form stays strong. In previous seasons, the Bees often seemed to come unstuck against sides in the lower half of the league, but, under Ian Hendon, Barnet have performed well in these sort of matches, as in the home matches with Darlington and Grimsby Town and, while it is likely to be a close match tomorrow, the Bees should have enough in them to win and therefore, Barnet Mad are going for another Bees’ home win, perhaps ending in a 2-0 scoreline.