"It's true that one win does not change everything, nor does it make everything rosy once again but I can't help feeling a whole lot more optimistic about what's ahead. We've shown that we do have a bit of ability and I'm hopeful that we get to see more of that as the weeks progress. Before Saturday you just couldn't see it coming, but how things can turn in one's mind based on just 90 minutes.
Many of us declared after a combination of the Crewe and Bury games that going to Lincoln was not an option. Perhaps it was just out of a fit of rage, or a fit of ""I don't care about this team"" that bought it on, but once again a win has changed my mentality. I quite fancy going now. What's that I hear? Part-time, fair weather fan? Only goes when the team is winning? Well maybe, but if you were at Crewe then you'd probably understand why never going to an away game again doesn't sound a terrible idea. As such it's a shame that we won't get to do Lincoln as a group this year, it seems that for some it's going to take a bit more than one win to get the buzz back. Lincoln is always a very good day out, not one that I'll be doing alone!
You can't really blame people for not being swayed by one game, just in the same way that people were not entirely swayed by a seven goal reverse away from home. It's going to take plenty more of Saturday's showing to get people back through the gates of Underhill and back on the road. For a start we could do with our manager ending his winless away run which seems to stretch back to the dawn of time. We at Barnet have become used to scant away success but that doesn't mean we're content with it. A quick scour of the DSH statsbook notifies me that of 134 competitive away games since we were promoted in 2005, we have won just 25. That's not even one in five. Less than 20%. Whatever way you slice it, that's appalling. We'd won 20 between 2003 and 2005, where we were a bit spoilt to be fair, however the stats don't lie. We don't like it away from home and it's no wonder away numbers have dwindled based on that alone. Still let's not get too downhearted by numbers, let's be more upbeat based on our opponents.
Lincoln had a shocker last year and they don't appear to be looking much better this term. I'm not sure how much longer I can go without mentioning that they have a certain Albert Jarrett amongst their ranks. Well we've all got our views on him haven't we? He played for us over 50 times yet we rarely saw a cross reach it's intended target. Rather, the uncovered heads on the North Terrace and the youngsters in the South Stand were forced to take cover from a wayward looper that sailed into their midst. Don't get me wrong, Jarrett had his good moments for us, but his overall lack of consistency and even more importantly, lack of workrate were what we at DSH took particular exception to.
Other than that, Lincoln have had a similar slow start to us but now find themselves below us after our solitary win. They have been widely tipped to struggle again this year and it's not surprising that this is the case. As such, we can consider this a half decent chance to end all manner of bad away runs, including one that has seen us lose all five games at Sincil Bank since '05. Last years' season opener was unfortunate as we did enjoy a dominant spell over our hosts, but we still conspired to lose it. If we can get a result here, maybe we can get a bit of early momentum going. Even a draw would be a start on the road. However I think this lot are there for the taking, and if we can show the form we did last week, I see no reason why we can't bring the points home.
I bet I end up going...I've caught the football bug again..."
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