Reflections on Hereford Match

Saturday's defeat at home to Hereford United, which leaves Barnet 20^th in the league after 2 matches, was packed full of controversy. The Bees started the game of in a very strong fashion, with Jason Puncheon's fine volleyed strike, following Michael Leary's header, putting Barnet a goal up after only 13 minutes.

However, for the home fans things soon took a turn for the worse, starting six minutes later when Joe Devera was sent off for an alleged professional foul after holding Trevor Benjamin back after the Hereford striker had chased a ball through the middle. The referee, Mr. Ward, initially waved away the visitors' protests but was called back by the linesman who felt that Devera had robbed Benjamin of a scoring opportunity and Mr. Ward the sent Devera off. This was despite the fact that Devera did not appear to many fans to be the last man.

Worse was to follow a minute before half time when Hereford were awarded a penalty when a shot struck Max porter at point blank range on the hand. Even many Hereford players apparently felt he could do nothing about getting out of the way of the shot. Benjamin scored from the resulting penalty to make the score 1-1 at half time.

If anything, the referee's performance seemed to get more inconsistent in the second half. Despite this Barnet started the game well and had the ball in the net through a Sagi Burton header which was, unaccountably, ruled out. Anthony Thomas was unlucky too to be just off target after a brilliant run through the penalty area, but as the game wore on Hereford's extra man paid off and after Benjamin hit the post, Theo Robinson, on loan from Watford, hit the rebound home. Barnet though never gave up and put a lot of pressure on the Hereford goal in the last few minutes and it looked as though it had paid off when Adam Birchall netted only for that to be ruled out by Mr. Ward too.

So frustration all round and it was unusual to see Paul Fairclough so animated and angry with the referee as he was at half time and for him to comment after the game that it had been 10 men against 12. But it was a feeling shared by many Bees' fans.

However, there were some plus points. Before Devera's sending off, Barnet had looked sharp despite missing Yakabu and Bishop, and had looked well on top with Hereford offering little. Ian Hendon gave a performance which silenced many of his doubters that he had little left to offer on the playing side. Sagi Burton gave a captain's performance and was a rock, while Puncheon and Thomas both gave performances that promised much for the future. Max Porter too showed that he has potential.

Looking ahead to Saturday's away game at Brentford, Barnet will still be without Neal Bishop, who will be serving the 2^nd of a 3 match suspension and Joe Devera who just misses the one game. Hopefully, Ismail Yakabu will be back to partner Sagi Burton at the back, so Ian Hendon can return to right back and Max Porter to the midfield. The squad still looks painfully thin though and most fans will be looking to Paul Fairclough to make a few new signings before the transfer deadline at the end of the month; if not any permanent signings, then at least some loan deals.