Miserable night for Bees

2:44am Wednesday 5th December 2007

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Chester City 3 Barnet 0 . . .

AT LEAST there was only a small band of Barnet fans to witness this woeful performance from the Bees.

Only the most loyal would not hesitate in making the long trip to Chester on a Tuesday night, though even they could be forgiven for thinking twice next time.

The 80 or so fans that did make the trip to the Deva Stadium, to their credit, never stopped singing. Sadly, the spirit and belief they displayed was not shared by the players.

There is no doubt Paul Fairclough's troops are suffering from a lack of confidence at the moment. They were brushed aside with ease by a decent Chester outfit and can have few complaints.

More sloppy defending and poor finishing handed City the points before the interval and, had the hosts not rested on their laurels, it could have been worse.

A near gale-force wind made the going tough, but Chester did not seem to be unduly bothered. You only really noticed its severity when Barnet were playing into it.

The Bees were going through the motions after the break and it looked like the players just wanted to hear the final whistle. They did not exactly give up, but they did not really believe they could turn it around.

Little is going right for Barnet at the moment and it is all a far cry from a couple of months ago.

Chester never really looked back after taking the lead with the first chance of the game on six minutes.

Joe O'Cearuill's attempt to head out Kevin Ellison's cross only set up Richie Partridge, but the latter still had much to do. He did not hesitate in hitting the ball first time and his volley found the far corner for a cracking finish.

It might have been different if Adam Birchall had not seen keeper John Danby block his shot on 17 minutes, the striker being put in the clear by partner Liam Hatch. No one doubts Birchall's tireless efforts, but it really is not happening for him in front of goal at the moment.

Keeper Lee Harrison did well to tip over a John Murphy header, while Joe Devera was almost made to pay for dithering, Partridge firing over after cutting inside.

Ashley Carew then gave the ball away too easily, but Nathan Lowndes drove just wide.

The killer second finally came five minutes before half-time. The Barnet defence backed off as the hosts came forward on the counter-attack. Ellison was allowed to cut inside and hit a looping effort over Harrison into the top corner from the edge of the box.

Jason Puncheon, back from suspension, saw an early second-half drive clear the bar, but the Bees, despite enjoying more possession, struggled to create clear-cut chances.

The best fell to sub Giuliano Grazioli eight minutes from time. A lovely defence-splitting ball from Kenny Gillet put him in the clear, but, like Birchall, Grazioli saw his effort blocked by the keeper.

It was all over by then anyway. Ellison had already drilled home an unstoppable drive from an acute angle which found the net via both posts. Once again, the chance came because Barnet had failed to clear their lines.

BARNET (4-4-2): Harrison; Devera (Porter 73), Yakubu, O'Cearuill, Gillet; Carew (Grazioli 72), Wright, Bishop (Leary 78), Puncheon; Birchall, Hatch. Subs not used: Beckwith, Tabiri Attendance: 1,858