Barnet just can’t win away from home. On Saturday we were 2-0 up in Morecambe and seemingly cruising. 20 minutes later, we had drawn 2-2. I didn’t attend the match at The Globe Arena so I can’t really comment on that performance. But I was at Adam’s Park on Tuesday, and what all of us Barnet fans witnessed, especially in the first half, was dreadful. We didn’t look creating anything in the first 45 minutes as Wycombe battered us all over the park; I actually think we were only lucky that we went into the interval only 3 goals down. I can’t complain about one of the goals, it was an unstoppable shot. But the other two goals in the first half were both from corners. Adam Sandell for Wycombe was unmarked in the penalty area on both occasions to score his goals. On both occasions, not one Barnet player made an attempt to get their head on the ball and clear the danger.
At half time, we brought on Phil Walsh and Charlie Taylor from the substitutes. I didn’t even realise Taylor was even playing until fifteen minutes from the end of the game, he was that poor. He played like Rooney did in the World Cup; anonymous. Phil Walsh didn’t have a great half either, but at least he got his goal, albeit their keeper really should have saved his shot. When the goal did go in, there was no chance we were going to grab two more goals without reply to take home a point. We are not Rotherham, we are little old Barnet from Underhill. We could only manage to score one more, yet we had to concede another didn’t we?
For those of you who haven’t been to Adam’s Park before, it is situated down a trading estate. You don’t expect to come to a stadium, yet after walking past various different businesses you arrive at the ground. From the outside, it looks like a warehouse or train station or something like that. Well, I suppose it is a much better entrance than Kenilworth Road.
Every Barnet fan likes going to home games. The team seams to prefer playing at home, no matter how small our attendances are. They seem to play with a certain confidence to their play. Away, players seem to be less inclined to express themselves and attack the opposition. Maybe that is out of fear of making mistakes in front of the travelling faithful. I believe it is all in the mind; the way teams play better at home than away. So let’s thank God we now have 3 home games in a row. Saturday’s game against Hereford has already turned out to be a relegation battle after just 9 games played. It’s the bottom two going head to head against each other, and if The Bees win on Saturday, that will give us some leeway and a four point advantage over The Bulls. At this stage of the season, those few points could be vital. As we know from last year, every point can make a difference between survival. I don’t want to be visiting places like Kettering next season; I want to still be making the trips up to places such as Bradford, if they are still in our division.
It’s going to be a long battle this season, but with new signings in Grant Basey and Izale McLeod, there is no reason why we can’t beat the drop. Both those players have proven their capabilities at a higher level so hopefully they can do well for Barnet. Only time will tell.