Bees in surprising goalless stalemate (From Times Series)

Bees in surprising goalless stalemate

10:46am Wednesday 26th November 2008 in Sport

Port Vale 0 Barnet 0 . . .

Few could have predicted this game would end in a goalless stalemate.

Both of these sides have been conceding goals for fun of late.

Vale came into the match having let in ten in their last three games, a record Barnet could match.

With the worst defensive record in League Two, manager Paul Fairclough decided something had to be done.

He brought in fit-again Jeremy De Magalhaes at the heart of his defence, with the out-of-sorts Ismail Yakubu the man making way. Keeper Lee Harrison was also surprisingly dropped, with Rob Beckwith taking the gloves.

And the move paid dividends, the Bees keeping their first clean sheet since the end of September.

De Magalhaes and loan defender Michael Townsend looked solid in the centre, but, to be fair, they were not given the toughest of nights.

Vale, relegated to League Two in May, have not exactly set the division alight and, like the Bees, have struggled on home soil.

There were few chances throughout the 90 minutes and neither keeper was really troubled. Both sides were understandably low on confidence and it showed. Perhaps both were too preoccupied with sorting out their leaky defences to think about making an impact at the other end?

Manager Paul Fairclough chose to play a 4-5-1 formation, with John O’Flynn the lone striker. It meant the recalled Cliff Akurang played out of position on the left. The only other change to the side that lost to Macclesfield Town on Saturday was the return of Max Porter in midfield, Nicky Deverdics dropping to the bench.

It was clear from his line-up that Fairclough wanted a bit of steel in his side, and he got it.

The Bees looked like a team that were determined not to lose. Sadly, they never really looked like grabbing the three points either.

It was not pretty, but after so many disappointing performances of late, this was at least a small tonic to lift the spirits, be it a small one.