7:45pm Wednesday 21st February 2007
Barnet 1 Swindon Town 0.
Barnet stopped the rot against promotion-chasing Swindon Town to banish lingering fears that they might yet be dragged into the relegation dogfight.
This narrow win underlines the fact the Bees appear to relish playing the league's best sides - they have previously won at top-of-the-table Hartlepool and drawn against second-placed Walsall.
The flip side is that they have taken only three points from a possible 15 against the bottom three.
"We fail against the lower clubs but seem to compete against the top clubs and in the FA Cup," said a frustrated Fairclough, adding: "It's disappointing, but anything can happen in this league."
And so this game proved. A month ago the Bees were looking up at a possible play-off place, but after a five-game run which yielded only two points they were again looking nervously over their shoulders.
Tuesday night's victory which, given the vast amount of possession Swindon had in the second half can only be described as slightly fortunate, ought to guarantee the Bees' participation in this league next season.
Twenty-year-old Oliver Allen, making his debut after signing from Birmingham City last month, scored a poacher's goal on six minutes after a knock-down from Ismail Yakubu.
Allen's movement and willingness to come deep impressed, and he was unfortunate to be substituted shortly after the hour.
Watching from the stands, his father, Clive, a striker twice capped by England, was a proud man. Fabulous' was how he described the younger Allen's debut, adding: "I thought he gave an excellent account of himself. He's been waiting for his opportunity and I'm delighted he could score the winner."
The former Spurs forward said his son's palpable disappointment at being hauled off on 62 minutes was proof of his hunger to establish himself at Underhill. "He's so keen and the way the game was going he would have wanted to carry on.
"I would rather see him disappointed than happy to come off."
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