Authored by Max Bygraves
I sit here writing this, tired and still not quite sure what possessed me to go all the way to Burnley and back on a Tuesday night. On the supporters coach too, although well cover why that was even more of a daft idea than it usually would be, later.
When the draw was made, it was hardly the most inspiring prospect, a trip to deepest Lancashire to face a decent Championship side who would most likely make fairly light work of little old Barnet. One ball away from it being Newcastle away, that does still hurt a little bit!
Anyhow, we set off from Barnet at midday, a long journey ahead and despite our generally encouraging start to the campaign, not overly optimistic of our chances, even after quite easily seeing off Portsmouth in their own back yard in Round One.
We made a stop off in the quaint little town of Hebden Bridge at about quarter to five after a lot of time looking at motorway and then some quite nice Yorkshire countryside. We stopped in a pub here until just after 6pm, before the coach set off on the final leg of the journey, the fifteen odd miles across the roses border, into Lancashire.
Burnley doesnt have the best reputation as a place. In fact, you can buy a house in the town at a cheaper price than anywhere else in the country. Probably not a coincidence, although itd be a little unfair to really pass comment as we saw very little of Burnley itself. We arrived a little before 7pm and on advice of a local bobby, headed for Burnley Cricket Club behind the away end, where we enjoyed a swift pint in the sun, watching a bit of cricket. All very civilised.
After said pint, we made our way round to the turnstiles and even had time for another quick beer in the ground. The girl behind the counter was so flattered by my friends brilliant chat up lines, she only charged me for one beer not two, such was her flustered state. He shall remain nameless, but what a bloody Casanova.
Game time, then. When I walked up the extremely large and not terribly safe steps in Burnleys wooden seated away end, I was a touch disappointed a few more people werent as stupid as me and my friends whod made the journey. The official figure of away support was 77. Is the word Im looking for hardy or mental? We made the best of it though; a group of about 10 of us stood at the back and created something at least a bit like an atmosphere.
The game wasnt a bad one, played at a decent pace. The first half saw limited opportunity for Barnet, although Jason Price appeared to waste a very good chance from close range with the scores level, although it was hard to judge how easy the chance actually was, as it was down the other end of the ground. Burnley looked dangerous every time they went forward and despite the best efforts of the Bees defence, we were finally breached by our hosts around half an hour in. On balance it was probably about right, but it was disappointing nonetheless.
It remained 1-0 to Burnley as the half time whistle sounded. Wed given a good account of ourselves so far though and shooting towards our end after the restart, there was certainly a fair bit of hope in the sparsely populated away end. Another quick, cheeky beer was consumed to keep the voice nice and loud for the second half and we resumed our positions.
It was quite a similar story. Barnet were playing well, you could take nothing away from the lads efforts and now we did look a bit more likely to score than we had done in the first half. Izale McLeod continued his fine run of form just lately, by giving their defence a torrid time, pulling them all over the place. Deering almost scored a stunning goal, connecting with a cross, knocking it deftly in the air with his first touch, but then smashing his volley just inches over the bar. However, it looked like it wasnt going to be our night when despite Barnets good showing thus far, Burnley doubled their advantage. A fine goal it was too. Lovely bit of skill and quick control by Wade Elliot, before a fine finish to cap off a very good solo goal by the man who scored the goal that fired the Clarets into the Premier League in 2009. 2-0, just over twenty minutes to go. Game over?
Unless we wanted to be on the end of a heavier defeat, we needed to react. Jason Price was replaced by Stevie Kabba, for his long-awaited return and Sam Deering was brought off for Ricky Holmes, for the third game in succession. Admittedly, my head had dropped a bit now and the notion of finding somewhere for a quick pint before the long journey home was banded about and in the 73rd minute, about to be put into place...but, hang on!
Walking down the steps ready to depart, we thought wed wait to see how this attack panned out. It panned out very well, what an inspired substitution! Steve Kabba, not much more than five minutes into his season got his name on the score sheet and maybe gave us a way back into the game. We were going nowhere now...could we do this!?
All of a sudden there was a sense of belief on the pitch and in the stand; this team are showing real fight, much like they did in the final games of last season. It wasnt relentless pressure on the Burnley goal, but the efforts were being made and the home side were certainly being asked plenty of questions, although when they broke there was always the fear of it going 3-1. It nearly did too, one shot in particular going inches wide of Brills post, but to the side we needed it to.
Time was running out though and it looked like wed have to settle for a respectable 2-1 defeat against a strong Championship side. The board had already gone up signalling three minutes of stoppage time. We were certainly getting towards the end of that when Mark Marshall stood over the ball after Kabba had won a free kick in a fairly dangerous position. Myself and friends had made our way towards the front of the stand by this point, ready to make a quick exit after an applause and getting back on that coach home. This was our last chance.
Marshall curls the free kick in low, its got a bit of a bounce to it, but Grant in the Burnley goal has dealt with it...but hes not held it...its going to fall to someone...RICKY HOLMES!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSS!!!!
In the 93rd of 93 minutes, 200 odd miles from home on a Tuesday night, away to a side two leagues above us, weve come back from 2-0 down to bang in an equaliser down our end. These are the moments to savour; the moments that make all these ridiculous journeys to away games seem worthwhile. Why football is so bloody good!
The players all peeled off in the direction of the 77 away fans, myself and two mates bundling down the steps to the front of the stand before jumping around in fits of ecstasy and disbelief. Absolutely terrific moment and what a comeback from the Bees. Bring on extra time...!
It was a very weird feeling, having gone nuts for a stoppage time equaliser, but then having to get back in the mode where we could still win or lose as we had a further thirty minutes on the clock. It was always going to be a big ask to even hold on for penalties now, but you just hoped that goal would galvanize the players and help them find that extra bit of energy for the final thirty from somewhere.
As you will probably know, we couldnt quite pull it off. A pretty horrible goal to concede, not too dissimilar to Rotherhams first on Saturday if memory serves me correctly, in the 105th minute gave Burnley a 3-2 lead, which they managed to sustain and ensure their progress to Round 3. The players looked tired, but did not stop until the end. McLeod and Marshall in particular continued to cause Burnleys defence all kind of problems, while Mark Byrne continued to work tirelessly in the middle of the park, but sadly his bursting runs into the box could not lead to another equaliser. Holmes almost had the chance to be the hero for a second time when the ball fell to him unmarked in the Clarets penalty area. However, this time he was offside and his finishing let him down in any course. One fairytale moment for the evening was all we were getting.
The players received a, thoroughly deserved, fine ovation from the Barnet fans at full time and responded in a highly appreciative manner. It was a nice moment, even in defeat. There does appear to be a bit of affinity now between us mere fans and the players, something weve lacked for sometime. Lawrie Sanchez cut a very despondent figure as he trudged off the pitch, having gone close to adding yet another fine cup escapade to his CV. The performance was fantastic though and I am sure he and any of the players who may have felt a bit down last night, will accept in the cold light of day what we did achieve, even if it wasnt the cup upset we were hoping for. A credit to the club, as we have been on the road in each game so far this season. It makes such a change from the norm and long may it continue.
Now Im aware I have managed to seriously ramble on here and this has ended up a very long article, apologies, but just one final thing...yes, an attack on the club, of course...!
As I mentioned at the beginning of this piece, yesterday I used to supporters coach for the first time in nearly five years, as it was pretty difficult to get to Burnley via any other method with no mates driving. Of course, this year the coaches are being run by the club and no longer the BFCSA. Dont get me wrong, the pricing was fair and the coach was a nice one, though it was a shame the driver had no idea how the DVD player worked, but I could manage without that.
The journey home was always going to be a painstakingly long one, especially after a narrow defeat. We didnt even reach the motorway until past 11pm and were just south of Leeds by about midnight. Im rubbish at sleeping when travelling too and being sat on a dark coach with everyone else out for the count was not the most fun, but I knew what Id signed up for. Luckily, about 1am I managed to nod off a bit, that kind of half sleep but rested mode, yknow.
Anyway, about 1:30 I was awoken, as was the rest of the coach, when we pulled into a parking bay at Watford Gap Services in Northamptonshire. Apparently our driver could do no more hours, legally, so had to be relieved by another driver from the same company. This was annoying, but we were told that it would be no more than fifteen minutes before hed be here and wed be on the road again.
Hmmm...after one hour and forty nine minutes, the new driver finally showed up. The best had been made of the situation by those who were, with several of us having a kick about in the dark, empty car park. It was quite surreal, all told. However, more than surreal, it was a bloody disgrace.
If the club are going to run this service, they should run it properly. How lucky was that coach driver that it was the Barnet Supporters Bus and not the Millwall one? I think thatd have made the news if it had happened to not such a passive club! Some people who were there had work this morning (including the editor of this website!), but had for whatever reason decided to make the effort to go and support their team in the far, far North, for this to happen. I know it was the coach company who made the mistakes, but who hires them? If Kleanthous has any decency about him, all 20 odd of us very tired people are due a full refund for that. Totally unacceptable and one of those things where it does feel it could only happen with Barnet Football Club!
Sorry to end on a slightly sour note. Great performance from the team last night, but almost paled into insignificance by the fact we arrived back in Barnet at 4:28am on a Wednesday morning. Oh well, its another story of sorts, I guess...
Lets hope we can carry on our fine form on the road in the next two games at Bradford in the league and Colchester in the JPT. I cant make either, but am almost looking to a rest from it having missed no games so far. Certainly enjoying watching Barnet a lot more than I have done for a long while, though, but I do feel I have caught a bit of travel sickness after last night! If youre using the coach on Saturday, do enjoy yourselves...!
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