"Some of you may say I'm a little slow off the mark when it comes to the positives of Barnet FC. After all, I was very quick to start slating everything under the sun after the Wycombe debacle amongst others, and it's taken some 48 hours to present any sort of analysis towards this positive step. ""You negative bastard"", I hear you say. Well, I guess so.
Still, I can't find many negatives from Saturday's afternoon. Only the weather perhaps. The win was pretty comfortable in the end, and although the second goal came from some comedy capers in the visitors' goal, it would be fair to say that a two goal deficit was well deserved for our afternoon's work.
Hereford weren't abysmal. They just weren't very good. They already looked a team very low on confidence, just two months into the season. You would be when you're bottom and you concede an early goal to the side directly above you. And what a nicely crafted goal it was.
Phil Walsh, who won everything in the air all afternoon, flicked a goal kick onto Steve Kabba who used his experience to wait and hold onto the ball, ride a tackle or two and slide it into the path of Mark Marshall who finished into the far corner with minimal fuss. Great work again from Kabba, who is fast turning into a key member of this side. A well worked, well taken goal which was well deserved. Nice.
We continued to dominate without being given too much to worry about at the back. Mark Stimson took a bold choice in not only removing the armband from Anwar Uddin and giving it to Glen Southam, but dropping Uddin from the side entirely. Grant Basey, recently recruited from Charlton, was the man to step in and looked assured in his new surroundings. It was an impressive outing from him. Alongside him was Clovis Kamdjo who looked far more comfortable, compared to Tuesday. Despite some iffy headers which went nowhere near their intended intention, Clovis did well. In fact it's hard to pick out anyone who had a bad game. No, the opposition was not much of a test, but everyone went about their jobs well, some more quietly than others, but it was a good showing from the team. Just the sort of thing you need after a game like Wycombe.
Kabba had a decent chance to double the lead himself close to the half time whistle however his shot was straight at the 'keeper. You can never be certain with a one goal lead but Hereford had offered very little going forward.
However The Bulls did enjoy a bit of possession and territorial advantage in the second period. However, encouragingly, we were able to hold out and weather this very slight storm well and forge our way back into control of the game. Whereas before we may have capitulated and given in, we were solid, strong and offered Hereford no way through. Whether that was down to the level of opposition or a sign of strength from us is up for debate, but I'm looking at it in a positive light.
Ricky Holmes came on in the second half and showed a lot of promise. His pace troubled the defence no end and he could have had his first goal with a little more luck from a long range effort. He replaced another man signed from non-league in Charlie Taylor. Taylor didn't have a great afternoon but it is clear that he is very raw. To expect immediate performances would be quite harsh and it's clear he's going to need some time but the signs from Saturday and from the Wycombe game suggest some potential here.
Rossi Jarvis staked a claim for a starting place with an assured showing after replacing a war-wounded Glen Southam who took a smack in the mouth for his troubles. He's going to need plastic surgery on it. As long as he doesn't look like Leslie Ash he'll be fine. Jarvis showed class in his role, outshining Mark Byrne who was quiet in the centre of midfield.
The deserved second goal came just over ten minutes from the end through a calamity. Those of you who watched the Danny Baker videos back in the 90s would have seen plenty of these, as Michael Townsend played a backpass to his 'keeper, where the ball popped up over his standing leg and left him hitting an airshot. The ball rolled lamely into the open net and we had three points on the board. The poor lad. You've got to laugh though. I'm sure he will one day. Not for now though, his team are now rooted and we jump to the heady heights of 21st.
Good signs then, as we pick up a second win of the season. Playoffs here we come...or something."
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