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Don't Panic…DON'T F***ING PANIC
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Having a certified 'wobble' is the mark of a good team, right?
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By:
Max Bygraves
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22/02/2023
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This article has been viewed 1079 times.
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"Three and half weeks since the superb display against Chesterfield and after an incredible six consecutive away games, finally the season ticket could be put to use again for the visit of Altrincham. It had felt like a long time.
Credit to anyone who managed the full away odyssey of the past month. Dedication in the extreme. Once upon a time, perhaps. I have to say, I’m a huge advocate of the new streaming service for those of us who can’t offer such commitment to the cause. Quite enjoyed my recent Tuesday evening routine of watching Barnet on the laptop whilst cooking dinner or similar. Until the Notts County game, results certainly had helped with that. Even then, it wasn’t hard to accept taking a beating there given their obvious quality.
Before this one, given the relentless nature of the fixtures, even the defeat at lowly Torquay on Saturday felt like one that could be brushed off. Winning the FA Trophy game there the week before perhaps the bigger of the two, for the likelihood of ultimate success in a competition? We shall see.
Onto Altrincham then. Not a fixture on paper to get too excited over, but it felt like a winnable game and it was evident by the team selection Brennan wanted to go for it. Three players made their Hive debuts: Potter, Senior and Smith. That felt like an indication of how long it had been since a game there!
I’m writing this almost immediately post-match, without the benefit of being able to see any of the footage back yet, so if there are any inaccuracies, this is the apology. If this doesn’t get written tonight, work will swallow the chance to do so tomorrow and after that, who really wants to dwell too much on this one?
From the off, it was hard to decipher exactly how the team had been set up with only two recognisable defenders selected and the new kid from Sheffield United. Throughout the evening, positioning at the back looked a little ‘fluid’ to say the least, with the likes of Pritchard having to do a lot more in his own box than he’s either used to or perhaps all that comfortable with.
However, a positive start, very much on the front foot, was rewarded with a fine early goal. A lovely, deftly dinked cross from Jerome Okimo was met by the head of Harry Smith to make it five in five. A productive loan signing, indeed. I was all about the cross from our 34 year old centre half. What a man.
Altrincham hit back within ten minutes thanks to a controversial goal from podcast (I Had Trials Once) gobshite Jordan Hulme. It looked offside from my view. Apparently it looked ‘definitely’ offside on the stream but the linesman didn’t so much as flinch to raise his flag. Frustrating all round.
The Barnet response to this no doubt lulled us all into a false sense of security. Almost immediately, the lead was restored from a Pritchard near post flick on corner, something we got lots of joy from early in the season. The goal appears to have been given to Pritchard, but looked to me like it was connected with by someone else on the way in. Kabamba? Anyone?
The highlight after this goal was a youngster, no more than 12 years old, running down to the front to give it to the linesman for his earlier error, before being gently laughed away by a steward who could see the funny side.
An entertaining first half was brought to a close with Barnet very much on top. We’d played good football, lots of nice quick passing and looked dangerous in and around the box from all angles. The mood was a positive one in the bar at half time.
Now, I’d rather avoid the cliché, but I’m not sure I can when talking about this being very much a game of two halves. From very early on in the second forty five, it just appeared that Barnet had lost their way. Perhaps a little too much tinkering with a previously tried and tested system showed. Perhaps further evidence of tiredness from a relentless run.
We’ve done exceptionally well this season by sticking to the basics and ahead of the next game, arguably that’s where Brennan needs to revert to.
Altrincham were clinical, but it wasn’t made all that difficult for them. An early second half equaliser was followed by a hugely disappointing third goal on sixty-six minutes. The usually composed and assured Danny Collinge getting himself in a real mess, conceding possession on the edge of his own box, and the team conceding a third.
As we scrambled to respond, I kept trying to remind myself that we are a decent team, we’ve shown resilience before, it’s not time to panic, we can get back into it and so on - but tonight did feel like it wasn’t ever going to be one of those memorable fight backs.
Tyrese Sinclair, son of Frank Sinclair-Og, notched a fourth with a little over ten minutes go to for the visitors, sending their small but vocal support into raptures and condemning the Bees to a third defeat on the spin. There was time for a comeback to happen, but on the night, this Barnet team weren’t going to make one.
It’s hard to walk away from a result and second half performance like that with too much perspective and grace. However, this is what’s needed still. Results elsewhere kept the buffer on the teams below us to a comfortable one and whilst the idea of chasing down 3rd place is a nice one; perhaps this last week has been a reality check on that? We’d have all snapped hands or most other things off to be in the play-off places at this stage back in August or even more so in late October.
This season, we’ve come away from the ground having lost 0-1 to Dorking, 0-5 to York City and 0-3 to Southend United. Although we’ve felt like world beaters for much of the winter, we can’t be so short-sighted to forget that there have been times when we’ve shown our frailties, and tonight was hopefully just another rogue bad one, which is inevitable. We’ve got used to the luxury of never looking like losing at home.
If you’re going to finish in the top 7 rather than be right up there challenging, you won’t win every game. Even though it had begun to feel like that prior to the last seven days of results. Joking aside, it’s important for everyone to keep their heads at this time.
Brennan got the whole squad, including those not even named on the bench, into the extended post-match huddle on the pitch after full time. He talks a lot of ‘togetherness’ and responding to these recent results is going to be a true test of that.
Off the pitch, there’s a big responsibility for the fans to do the same. We’ve all enjoyed this season so far in partial wide-mouthed amazement. It's great winning and seeing expectations raised, but turning on players for a few poor results after the run we've been on simply isn't an option. We have to keep perspective and stick with the team through any patch like this, which was always likely to come.
It’s a sign of a good season when you can identify a wobble. Only good teams have wobbles. Let’s hope we can get back onto steadier ground against Aldershot on Saturday. "
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