Bees see off Carlisle to go second

8:11am Sunday 14th August 2005

Carlisle United 1 Barnet 3 . . .

A brilliant individual Dean Sinclair goal capped another superb second-half Barnet performance.

The midfielder picked the ball up in the centre circle before bursting through the tiring home defence and slotting past the keeper.

His moment to savour came in the final minute, but by then the game was already won.

Giuliano Grazioli cancelled out a first-half Carlisle opener and Nicky Bailey then put the Bees ahead with half-an-hour to go.

Three points looked beyond Barnet when David Livesey rose at the near post to head home an Adam Murray corner on 24 minutes.

The Cumbrians had the better of the first-half chances and might have gone in at the break two up if Derek Holmes had converted a neat Karl Hawley lay-off on the half-hour, the striker shooting over from ten yards with just Scott Tynan to beat.

Grazioli had Barnet's best chance of the first half, but shot weakly after he had shrugged off his marker in order to collect a Richard Graham through-ball.

The hosts had done most of the pressing and it looked like Barnet would be in for a difficult second half.

But, like at Northampton on Tuesday, the Bees began to take control and eventually their class told.

Carlisle had created a couple of openings early in the second half and, it has to be said, the Barnet equaliser came out of the blue.

But once Grazioli had got on the end of a cracking Bailey cross on 51 minutes, the striker arriving at the far post to convert from close range, there was no stopping Paul Fairclough's men.

It was Bailey who put the Bees ahead when the midfielder chested down a superb Ian Hendon cross-field through-ball and lashed a shot past the keeper.

Grazioli almost made it three, but was unlucky to see a 72nd-minute lob land on the roof of the net.

Carlisle never looked like getting past a well-organised Barnet defence in the latter stages and the handling of Tynan remained immaculate.

The home fans were already leaving the ground when Sinclair, taking advantage of a slip from a defender just in front of him, took the ball from close to the halfway line and surged forward to score the goal of the game.

It was the perfect finish to another memorable Barnet showing, one that leaves the Bees unbeaten with seven points from the first three games.

BARNET (4-5-1): Tynan; Hendon, King, Charles, Gross; Strevens, Bailey, Lee, Sinclair, Graham; Grazioli, Norville (77). Subs not used: Flitney, Soares, Bowditch, Gomis.

Attendance: 6,650.