At the moment the games are relentless at a lot of levels and when I inputted the details for my programme writing service for November it doesn’t show much sign of letting up for some in the coming weeks.
It’s certainly testing to squad levels at the minute for quite a few and those who run with small numbers are no doubt patching one or two up for another 90 minutes as resources don’t allow anything else.
With it being half term it was a trip up with the girls to watch two of the top three in the National League face off at The Hive. Barnet are yet to be beaten at home this season with only Halifax taking anything away whilst Solihull Moors are a bit of a surprise package so far this season but coming off the back of a 5-0 thumping at Southend over the weekend.
The content below was originally paywalled.
A damp day, a coldish evening under the lights once more and to be a continuation of the title charge with no one seemingly able to keep pace or give chase in that direction.
We all pretty much expected Solihull to dig in and not see a repeat of the weekend performance, down to Barnet to break them down and find a way through.
The very early exchanges were in favour of the visitors, but the Bees then dominated the rest of the first half, not much adventure from the Moors and a constant outlet long ball for Mark Beck. Plenty of the ball for the home side and good movement to keep the visitors going from side to side constantly, waiting for the opening was the key.
However, a lack of time management from the match referee meant Solihull were able to slow the game down wherever they wanted, cards missing from being shown at times meant he was never in full control.
Moors keeper Tommy Simkin pulled off a fine save to deny Dale Gorman a 20 yard screamer after a few nervy moments with clearances and flapping at crosses, the Bees management team no doubt frustrated not to have turned their dominance into goals, but still matching Chesterfield’s result at half time.
As can so often happen one team has all the play only for the opposition to be the ones to open the scoring and it so happened here as well. Just four minutes into the half Barnet were carved open a little too easily down the left hand side and a cross into the box was met by Joe Newton to rapturous celebrations from the travelling support.
The good point was there was plenty of time to get back into the game, the bad being Moors sitting back even further and inviting Barnet onto them, the aerial option of Nicke Kabamba gone during the interval with Callum Stead on in his place.
Once more the Bees probed and prodded but Moors stood firm, managing to drop down at any given moment to slow the pace and disrupt the flow, the referee seemingly oblivious to both that and the goalkeeping timewasting as well.
The home side were forced into a second change, Courtney Senior replacing Reece Hall-Johnson and with ten minutes to play Gary Hooper arrived on the scene to add more presence up front.
Moors did have the ball in the net with six minutes to go but correctly given offside and the Bees were still alive. They thought they had their equaliser with a minute to play, Harry Pritchard heading against the crossbar but the ball not falling kindly for another Barnet player.
With seven minutes added on for the visitors time wasting efforts it was backs to the wall for Solihull and after a flurry of corners the Bees were level the ball dropping perfectly for Hooper to fire home for his first goal in the black and amber.
There was almost a winner for the home side moments after, Stead heading against the crossbar which would have capped an extraordinary comeback but both sides had to settle for a point, Barnet falling two points behind Chesterfield with a game in hand for the latter.
Pure domination of the game and the ball for the home side but not quite enough cutting edge or quality in the final third to see another home win, credit to the visitors for working a game plan and making it stick, but I would hope that it’s not their normal style because that’s not pretty to watch every week.
Both Dom Revan and Fin Potter looked a lot better bar a couple of early balls from the latter being a bit nervy, Anthony Hartigan his usual flawless performance in midfield but more needs to be forthcoming from Senior and Zak Brunt.
Senior I know has the ability and should be skinning most fullbacks in this league with ease, like Idris Kanu decision making appears to be the complete issue, one that hopefully gets better with a run of games.
Brunt I’ve felt has struggled to get into games quite often and it’s been a fair while since he really put his mark on a game, whether it’s a case of perseverance or a couple of games starting from the bench only Dean Brennan can decide.
It’s not often I mention a referee in here, this one last night however was just plain inconsistent. If there was an assessor in the stand I can’t imagine his report was too glowing. Needless blowing up at times, not handing cards out when he should have done, and taking an age to book players for time wasting, appears the complete opposite to the incumbent at The Hive on Saturday afternoon.
I don’t mind a bad day of things, but the inconsistency is the one thing that infuriates me, they all use the same rulebook but sometimes when you watch a game it appears they don’t, and that’s not just at National League level.
Barnet remain unbeaten on home soil, something they will need to protect and keep as a minimum if they are to hang on to the coat tails of Chesterfield, a gap of seven points back to Bromley in third spot is a good cushion to have.
It’s a huge conundrum whether this was a point gained or two dropped, it could turn out to be a big single point, far too early still in the campaign to be able to tell despite one or two Chesterfield fans thinking the title is already won, some strange people around.
