The game started very sloppily with the ball hardly touching the ground, but the home side almost took the initiative after 16 minutes when Steve MacLean’s low drive was well saved by Jake Cole.
Oxford again came close ten minutes later after Grant Basey gave the ball straight to Simon Heslop, the former Barnsley midfielder, but he could only shoot just wide of Barnet’s goal.
This came as a shock to the Bees, who then dominated the rest of the first half. George Francombe found room in the box after 28 minutes, but took the ball too wide, as his powerful shot was eventually saved by Ryan Clarke.
Moments later, Mark Marshall also found room in the opposing penalty area, but his drive across the face of goal failed to get the vital touch that would have almost certainly been enough to give Barnet the lead. How- ever, Barnet did get the goal their brief dominance deserved. George Francombe again found the ball at his feet on the right hand side of the penalty area and produced a low cross which deflected into the path of Marshall who was able to calmly slot the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the goal.
The first half performance from Oxford was well bellow par, so there was an inevitability when the home team started by far the better side in the second half. With 49 minutes played, Tom Craddock, a summer signing from Luton Town, came within inches of getting Oxford back on level terms, but his curling shot from 15 yards out had left Jake Cole diving in despair, but the effort just missed the right hand upright.
Oxford came agonizingly closer twelve minutes after that. When Steve MacLean found the ball at his feat one on one with Jake Cole, a goal seemed certain, but the Scottish forward’s attempt hit the inside of the post before somehow rebounding into Jake Cole’s grateful arms. The former Queens Park Rangers goalkeeper Cole, who had a spell on loan at Oxford months before joining Barnet for the first time, seemed to injure his wrist in the process, but thankfully for Barnet he was able to carry on.
When Oxford did eventually grab an equalizer, it was a Barnet player that scored it. Ben Futcher slotted a brilliant through-ball into the path of substitute James Constable, but Anwar Uddin came sliding in, before accidentally trickling the ball into his own net. It was clear the Oxford players and fans were now on a high and when a Steve MacLean free kick flew like a rocket onto the crossbar it was clear that only one team was going to win the match.
With 83 minutes played, James Constable was given the ball on the edge of the area but his low shot was parried out effectively by Jake Cole. Nonetheless, Constable thirty seconds later did have his chance to celebrate a goal for himself. Constable was again given the ball inside the area, and this time his shot was enough to go past Jake Cole in the bottom left hand corner of the match; a shot almost identical to the one that led to Mark Marshall’s goal in the first half.
However, the game was by no means over. A low, Mark Marshall corner into the six yard area started a scrappy goalmouth mêlée and eventually the ball had to be cleared off the line by an Oxford defender after an attempted clearance had hit Ricky Holmes’s foot.
Barnet substitute Izale McLeod also had a glorious chance to nick a point for the away side. Steve Kabba and McLeod had a neat exchange of passing with each other, but McLeod, who was clean through on goal, decided he had to take the ball round the goalkeeper, but Ryan Clarke got a vital hand to prevent a late equalizing goal.
At the end of the day, an Oxford win was probably the right result, although Barnet manager Mark Stimson will be disappointed that his side could not take a point home to North London. Barnet’s next match is at home to Accrington Stanley next Saturday, whilst Oxford are at Lincoln.
Man of the Match: Steve MacLean
Bees Man of the Match: Mark Marshall