Below-par Bees slip to defeat

4:56pm Saturday 29th December 2007

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Barnet 0 Chesterfield 2 . . .

Barnet put in a stuttering performance and never really looked like getting anything from a disappointing game at Underhill this afternoon.

Goals in both periods sealed the points on a day when the home side failed to really test the visiting keeper.

Though the Bees worked hard, they were not at their best, despite an improved second-half performance.

Barnet went into the game with just one change from the side that beat Dagenham on Boxing Day, Joe O'Cearuill coming in for the suspended Ismail Yakubu.

Striker Liam Hatch was given the captain's armband in what was his final match for the Bees, Hatch having earned a January move to Peterborough.

Barnet's first chance came on ten minutes, Nicky Nicolau picking out Hatch, but he made a mess of his header.

Both sides were struggling to stamp their authority on the game, the strong wind not helping matters.

But Chesterfield broke the deadlock on 21 minutes, Jack Lester slipping the ball through to Adam Rooney and he slid the ball past the advancing Lee Harrison.

The goal came out of almost nothing and seemed to catch everyone unaware. It was the Spireites' first real chance of the game.

Barnet failed to respond and the visitors almost added a second from a corner, Nicolau clearing a near-post Janos Kovacs header off the line on the half-hour.

It was dour stuff and only a Jason Puncheon long-range effort that ended in the midriff of keeper Barry Roche got the home crowd even a little bit excited.

The half-time whistle came as a welcome relief, particularly to Barnet fans, their players having failed to give them anything to cheer about.

The Bees brought Anthony Thomas on for Hatch at half-time, bringing the latter's Underhill career to an end.

Barnet started the second half a little more positively, with Neal Bishop driving across the face of the goal after a neat turn.

Adam Birchall then saw a shot deflected over after a Thomas lay-off, another sign that that the Bees were at last starting to rise from their slumbers.

But Chesterfield always looked dangerous at the other end and Gregor Robertson should have done better when the ball was slipped to him on the left, his shot sliced wide.

Lester did put the ball in the net on 68 minutes, but the flag was already up for offside.

A long ball from Max Porter put Birchall through but his first-time shot from distance finished well wide.

The home fans were becoming increasingly frustrated, the Bees struggling to create clear-cut chances.

And, on 80 minutes, Harrison failed to hold a Jamie Ward corner and Kovacs slammed the ball in off the bar from close range for Chesterfield's second.

Sub Ashley Carew drove a foot wide in stoppage time and that was Barnet's best chance of a game they will want to put behind them as soon as possible.

BARNET (4-4-2): Harrison; Porter, Devera, O'Cearuill, Gillet; Puncheon, Leary (Carew 73), Bishop, Nicolau; Birchall, Hatch (Thomas 45). Subs not used: Beckwith, Tabiri, Grazioli.

Attendance: 2,046.