Well, whatever you want to call it, Saturday was not very good. It could be aptly described as crashing down to earth with a bang, or a severe hangover from two excellent away wins at Portsmouth and Morecambe. Either way, it did smack of typical old Barnet, flattering to deceive when it seemed things may turn out alright.
Perhaps that's a bit dramatic after just three games of the season, but it really was disappointing. My pre-season fears about the frailty of the defence were laid open on show as they all struggled against what was a pretty decent Port Vale outfit. The first two goals were very well taken, especially the opener, but they came amidst an air of inevitability as we were completely outplayed during the first 45. Mark Marshall barely saw any of the ball in an attacking sense, as our main line of attack seemed to be lumping high balls forward towards the head of Jason Price. A difficult task given that he was up against the biggest man in the world at centre back. He was HUGE!
We looked brighter in the second half but the game was all but over as a contest as soon as Vale went three up. Though rather encouragingly, it seemed to spur us on a bit. I mean, we looked like we could concede every time they went forward, but at least we showed some improved attacking impetus rather than letting the wind be knocked out of our sales and limping to a lifeless defeat as we may have done last season. Jason Price notched his first goal, albeit only just, with a header from a Marshall cross that seemed to be bundled over the line by a combination of HUGE man and funny haired goalkeeper. Marshall was the entire source of our chances until Sam Deering was introduced with twenty to play, but like we've seen before, he often opted to shoot rather than seek other options in the box. Quite frustrating. It ended 3-1, sending their happy following home, er, happy.
We have the chance to put it right tomorrow night when Gillingham roll into town with what should be a heavy following behind them. It's the second week in a row we'll be playing midweek, with two more on the way. Both of those games are away, having been handed an absolutely awful draw against Burnley in the Carling Cup, and Colchester United in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. It makes you wonder how this small squad will manage to cope with such demands so early in the season. By the time August is over, we'll have played eight games in the space of 24 days. Four consecutive away games are thrown in there too. We've already got injuries, how are we going to manage without a couple of new faces, either via the loan market or remaining freebies? It's a worrying question to be asking at such an early stage of a campaign.
Our next two games are against two of the three sides who have opened their seasons with wins. Gillingham are one of them of course and then it's a trip to the athletics stadium in Sheffield to face Rotherham. Rotherham, Burnley and Bradford in a week! Why!? There's not really any incentive to stay in the region either. It'll be a brave individual who takes on all three of those journeys. Who knows though, we could turn in a showing like we did at Portsmouth, where we were absolutely outstanding. Or even Morecambe, where we showed solidity and resolve to grind out a result. If we can knock out another Championship side, maybe fortune will favour us and hand us a decent draw for once. I know we've had Man Utd and Leeds in the last six years, but since then we've had some horrendous pairings. Accrington away? Swindon away? Bristol Rovers at home? Come on, we could do with a money spinner.
Despite showing all the hallmarks of a poor season on Saturday, let's not give up the ghost too quickly. We've shown what we're capable of, I hope it was just a blip. Come on, I'm trying my best to be positive here.
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