4:05pm Saturday 9th October 2004
By Paul Wreyford
Barnet 5 Dagenham & Redbridge 0
Barnet went goal crazy again to make it an unhappy return to Underhill for former Bees boss John Still.
The Daggers manager could only watch in awe as Paul Fairclough's men turned on the style to make it eight goals in their last two matches. And all this without star striker Giuliano Grazioli!
The only sour note on an excellent afternoon in front of the Sky TV cameras was an awful injury to Liam Hatch who dislocated his elbow after just 13 minutes.
By then Barnet were already two up.
Fairclough said: "It was great stuff and entertaining football. This was a very good all-round performance considering the eyes of the nation were on us."
The Bees had the game sewn up within the first six minutes. Just two minutes had gone when Ian Hendon cut inside and shot from the edge of the box. Ex-Wales and QPR keeper Tony Roberts was caught cold and somehow allowed the ball to roll under his body to gift the home side the lead.
Four minutes later Richard Graham crossed for Ben Strevens to glance home the second with his head.
The Dagenham defence was in disarray. On 19 minutes, sub Lee Roache was set free by a superb Nicky Bailey ball over the top, but this time Roberts stood up well to block his shot.
The Daggers, with the strong wind in their favour after the break, started the second half more promisingly, but Barnet still looked dangerous at the other end.
The third came with 20 minutes to go. This time it was a Hendon ball that freed Roache and on this occasion the striker drove under Roberts for his first Conference strike.
Four minutes later man of the match Bailey scored the goal of the game. There looked little danger when he picked the ball up on the edge of the box, but the tenacious midfielder curled an absolute beauty into the top corner.
Within minutes ex-Bee Lee Flynn was rather harshly judged to have found Dean Sinclair and Hendon slammed the resultant spot kick high into the roof of the net for number five.
BARNET (4-4-2): Tynan; Hendon, Yakubu (Batt 45), King, Clist; Bailey, Sinclair, Lee, Graham; Hatch (Roache 13), Strevens. Subs not used: Millard, Lopez, Maddix.
Attendance: 1,894.
Best Bee: Nicky Bailey.
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