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Nearly There
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Not a bad result, but for once, from here, can we please march rather than stumble towards the play-offs?!
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By:
Max Bygraves
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10/04/2024
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This article has been viewed 973 times.
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Bromley at home had been earmarked for some time as a potentially decisive game in the 'best of the rest' battle in this division since December. Despite inconsistencies from both sides at times, it has been us and The Ravens leading the way in the charge for those straight to semi-final playoff spots for a very long time. The visitors were smarting from missing out on a second FA Trophy final in three years, after defeat to Solihull on Saturday. Having beaten us to get there, I can't have been the only one hoping to serve up a bit of revenge for that disappointing afternoon at Hayes Lane last month.
Before the game started, a really excellent point to note was the players warming up in the Bring Barnet Back t-shirts. It's brilliant to see the players and management team engaging with the campaign and will only help the cause. Well done to all involved in making that happen. This is only going to keep growing!
Despite fears of another miniscule midweek crowd with the Champions League Quarter Finals on the tele, a healthy 1700+ were in attendance, helped by 290 from Bromley. They are a club who have enjoyed quite a rise in the last decade or two. It's evident they're a growing club by what would appear to be quite a young support. Whilst some of the 'Bromley massive' behaviour has legitimately been mocked before now, I couldn't criticise their vocal and engaged away end in this one. If you've got into supporting a club as they've grown and risen, it must be all quite exciting. Based on their recent history, whether it's this year or not, one would imagine they're not too far away from becoming a league club for the first time in their history before long.
This felt like my first game for some time, having missed Oxford City on Easter Monday and been unable to get to the last two away games. For the Oxford game, I did frustratingly get as far as parking my car on Tenby Road (the lucky 6-0 road, no less, what might have been...) before having to turn back home just before kick off with an under the weather child. A 50-50 gamble that didn't pay off. I won't remember Easter weekend 2024 too fondly after spending the entire bank holiday navigating a bout of family illness. I’m sure many have you have been there - what can you do? Either way, it was good to get back to the football without any drama for this one!
Onto the game and whilst the first half was an entertaining enough watch, it was fairly unremarkable. We had plenty of the ball and a lot of it in and around the Bromley box but couldn't find a way through. It was almost third time lucky for Dale Gorman when his rasping drive rattled the post just before the interval, but after two sighters prior to that, it still wasn't to be. Freeman also went close and maybe could have done better, but you'd be hard pressed to go beyond calling it a half-chance.
Bromley had the best opportunity of the first half with a one on one that was brilliantly saved by Josh Keeley. Credit where it's due to the young goalkeeper, this would prove to arguably be his best performance in a Barnet shirt to date. An excellent response from the disappointment of Saturday's error at Maidenhead. A lot more thought seemed to be being given before committing himself and this decision making resulted in a much more assured display. It would appear he's going to remain back in goal for what we have left now, so let's hope this is the start of a consistent run of strong performances.
This week's half-time bar mishap was a new member of staff not knowing how to pour pints. After several attempts of 80/20 froth to beer ratios, with assistance from someone more experienced the half time queue finally got moving after an extended pause. Like other times this season, a reasonably busy bar, with people keen to catch a bit of the televised game from elsewhere in London due to the different kick off times, probably saw less takings than it should have. Maybe the new chap could have got his pint pouring practice in during the first half if they pre-poured? Just an idea... Sorry, have we mentioned that before?
Not to drag the heels of negativity too much, but an incident in the stand early in the second half is worth acknowledgement. An unfortunate chap was scaling the steps with his hands full of half-time refreshments when he lost his balance and took a very nasty tumble backwards down the steps. Thankfully, it was apparent after a short time that serious injury had been avoided - although probably a bit sore this morning; we wish him well! What was concerning was the incredibly slow response time from anyone within the safety team, stewards, police or St John's Ambulance. Everyone came eventually, but it did ask questions as to what could happen were a more serious incident to take place that required immediate attention. Big credit to all the fans around the incident who attempted to summon help and those who assisted the supporter. Not pleasant all round - but as alluded to here at other points this season, some safety aspects of matchdays at The Hive are in need of real review.
Thankfully, the mood from this incident was lifted for all (including the chap who was sat at the front with the medical staff by now) just moments later with Barnet taking the lead. An outstanding run from the perpetual pest that is Calum Stead left Bromley's defence in all sorts of bother and he was able to square the ball across goal for Idris Kanu to tap in. A real moment of excitement in a game that needed someone to light the torch paper. What a signing Stead has been and equally, how good it was to see Kanu back in from the off for the first time in months after injuries.
For the next few minutes, there was a real buzz around the ground. It felt like a big goal, the chance to secure that top 3 spot and all but ensure 2nd place would be ours.
However, if we've said it once, we've said it a thousand times - this is Barnet. We couldn't capitalise further or indeed, hold on, and with just over a quarter of an hour remaining, Bromley equalised. After a good initial spell from us after scoring, they'd come back into it and it did have an air of inevitability about it. The nature of the goal is one that will have no doubt disappointed the manager and those in the back-line. Way too much space was given, and Bromley capitalised - very avoidable. Very annoying.
After this, Bromley did look more the side with a plan than us. It was a frustrating watch. Cropper's long throws were seemingly our only outlet but these were limited in impact with the personnel we were able to put into the box. It never really looked likely - although the second half was littered with some terrible refereeing decisions. One particular one on Kanu was blatant, but there were several shouts that fell on deaf ears which would have provided an opportunity for a second goal, both before and after Bromley's equaliser. This could have changed the course significantly, but at this stage, it has become an unfortunate reality to have to shrug off some bamboozling refereeing decisions.
In the end, it's not a bad result and another point towards where we want to be. There is an element of frustration having led and knowing that the result would have made things more certain with two tricky propositions still ahead of us. Even the most pessimistic of Barnet fan would struggle to see us outside of the top 3 now and given Bromley's fixtures, 2nd place looks pretty much nailed on - but given we can never write anything off, a bit more certainty would have been nice!
Uncertainty continues to reign ahead of Saturday's game with Halifax. Rumours at the time of writing are that this could well end up being played at another venue given the state of the Shay pitch. One does wonder if there'll be some thinking over the summer from the FA with regards to the closing dates of the non-league season. The rush to fit all fixtures in by April 20th causing havoc in this league and many below. Thankful we are not in the position of one of our other challengers, Gateshead, who face the prospect of 5 games in 9 days after their late, late postponement last night. Another factor you'd hope would play into our favour for that 2nd spot.
Our play-off campaign this time will be our seventh attempt at this route to promotion. Let's hope we can set up lucky, magnificent seven with a bit of form from the final two league fixtures and go into it full of belief that this time, it really might be different...
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