Below-par Bees grateful for point

4:47pm Saturday 13th October 2007

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Barnet 1 Mansfield Town 1 . . .

Liam Hatch came off the bench to earn a point Barnet never deserved at Underhill this afternoon.

And Jason Puncheon even had the chance to secure all three late on from the spot, but Mansfield keeper Carl Muggleton pulled off a brilliant save to keep out his penalty.

But a home winner would have been cruel on bottom-club Mansfield.

Apart from the final 20 minutes, the Bees were second best.

Manager Paul Fairclough said: "We didn't deserve anything from this game. Ironically, three points were staring at us with ten minutes to go, but that would have been hard on Mansfield.

"If we had got three points today, it would have been totally unjustified."

Fairclough refused to blame Puncheon for his miss from the spot.

"If anyone was going to put the ball into the net, it was going to be him. He has been outstanding for us."

Striker Adam Birchall, up against his former club, said: "At least we've got something out of it, but I think we feel we missed an opportunity today."

Barnet remain unbeaten in eight league games, but they were well off the pace.

Fairclough admitted that five games in two weeks had taken their toll.

"There was a lack of tempo and urgency. Mansfield looked brighter and fresher. It was one game too many for us.

"People looked at this game and said it was a home banker, but we knew it never was. We are grateful for a point."

The Stags belied their lowly position with a plucky display. They should have gone in at the break at least one up.

Keeper Lee Harrison pulled off a fine block to deny Michael Boulding, while Johnny Mullins saw a far-post header flash across the face of the goal, with none of his team-mates able to get a touch.

Lee Bell also saw Harrison tip over a powerful free-kick, before Simon Brown squandered the final chance of the first half, screwing a shot wide after the visitors had again beaten the offside trap.

The Barnet defence struggled all day with balls over the top and it was no surprise when Mansfield finally took the lead two minutes into the second half. Brown this time latched on to a Boulding flick and slid the ball past the outstretched hand of Harrison into the far corner.

The half-time introduction of Hatch livened things up, but the striker was guilty of wasting his side's best opening on 54 minutes, when he smashed the ball well over from a Neal Bishop centre.

But it was Hatch who made the breakthrough on 71 minutes. He flicked a long clearance out to Birchall on the left and kept on running. The ex-Mansfield player laid the ball back into the path of Hatch, who drilled it low and hard past Muggleton from just inside the area.

It lit the fuse to an exciting final 20 minutes, with Barnet finally applying some pressure.

And they were gifted the perfect chance to gain all three points on 78 minutes, when Boulding handled the ball just inside the area, unnecessarily.

Puncheon smacked his penalty hard, but Muggleton somehow pushed it on to the post.

Ashley Carew also saw an 89th-minute deflected effort strike the foot of the post, but a Barnet winner would have been cruel on the Stags.

Fairclough admitted: "They (Mansfield) have been desperately unlucky. They were unquestionably the better team. We were below the line today."

BARNET (4-4-2): Harrison; Devera (Hendon 68), O'Cearuill, Burton, Nicolau; Carew, Porter, Bishop, Puncheon; Birchall, Norville (Hatch 45).

Attendance: 2,041.