Saints Win At Underhill

The sides were

Barnet
Cole,Devera,Uddin,Leach,Parkes,Poole,Byrne,Jarvis,Southam,Holmes,Kabba

Saints
Davis(Bart 45), Butterfield(Harding 45), Martin, Racine, Dickson(Reeves81), Holder-Spooner(Doble 45), Carter, Hammond(Wotton52), Mills(Robinson 77), Oxlade-Chamberlain, Barnard(Holmes 67)

North London on a wet night is not the most inviting of places to find yourself. That allied to a rather steep slope and a team that was determined to lower our flag so to speak, meant a hard night was in store.

The game started well with both sides setting off in open attacking style. Saints were passing the ball around nicely and with Barnard chasing and harrying the Barnet back line was unable to relax for long.

Holder-spooner was maybe a little fortunate in the 10th minute when he went in late on Jarvis with no repercussions. Perhaps because of it being a friendly he escaped.

The rain kept falling in a light drizzle which livened the surface. Saints continued to attack with Dickson and Mills linking up well on the left. Their interpassing frequently causing Barnet problems.

On 16 minutes Saints first real chance fell to Danny Butterfield when the ball broke to him but his shot sailed over harmlessly.

Darren Carter was impressing in midfield as he displayed his passing prowess. He provided the next moment of danger to Barnet when picking up the ball in the centre circle, he skipped past a couple of players before laying a sublime pass for Dickson down the left.

His run coming to an abrupt halt as he was fouled. Mills’ free kick was blocked and went for a corner which came to nothing.

On the half hour more Saints pressure resulted in Barnard cutting in from the left ominously but his curling shot went just wide.

Momentarily Barnet came to life and a free kick to them was met by Uddin which was looping towards the top of the net until flying Kelvin Davis finger tipped the ball over for a corner.

Just before the break an Oxlade-Chamberlain cross was headed clear but only to Carter who curled a left foot shot just over the bar.
HT 0-0

For the second half Pards made three changes. Bart coming on for Kelvin,Harding taking over from Butterfield and Doble coming on for Holder-Spooner as Saints tried to find the goal their first half play deserved.

The second half began in much the same manner as the first. Barnet went close twice before Saints finally took the lead.

In the 51st minute as Oxlade-chamberlain cut in from the right before being stopped by a group of Barnet supporters. Luckily the ball broke to Fish Mills who calmly slotted the ball home from 6 yards.

Soon after this the game began to break up as substitutions began to be made. Wotton came on for Hammond in the 52nd minute and then more substitutions were made.

Lee Holmes came on for Barnard which wasa surprise. Then Ben Reeves and Andy Robinson were given cameo roles as we ran the clock down. Reeves in Particular stood out as in the Farnborough game.

Aaran Racine had a really good game looking strong and composed alongside Aaron Martin. The duo looked good together and hopefully will be pushing for more action in the near future.

As time ran out it looked comfortable and we ended up winning 1-0. Job done and a few performances to both cheer the manager and at the same time give him a selection problem.

Butterfield looks sound and is a guarenteed starter against Plymouth. Harding has shown that when needed he can fill in at right back as well which is a plus.

Aaran Racine looked really composed alongside Martin and Darren Carter if he can repeat yesterday’s performance must have a contract wrapped up.

All in all I feel that the manager will have learned a bit more about his players. Good news all round.