Sluggish Bees no match for Bristol (From Times Series)

Sluggish Bees no match for Bristol

4:35pm Thursday 1st December 2005 in

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Bristol Rovers 2 Barnet 1
Coca-Cola League Two

'Unlucky' is a word too freely used by football managers, but Barnet boss Paul Fairclough could be forgiven for feeling his troops had the world against them at the Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

You know your luck is not in when both your strikers hit the woodwork within a minute of each other.

Fairclough said the Bees should have won it, but Bristol led a charmed life' in the closing stages as his side bombarded the home goal.

Barnet's spirited late fightback should not hide their earlier deficiencies, however. It has to be said, the Bees were very poor for much of this encounter.

But when Ben Strevens struck with 20 minutes to go, the Pirates began to get nervous and Barnet sensed it.

They certainly did more than enough in the final five minutes of this match to deserve at least a point, but Rovers hung on to claim the victory.

Fairclough said his team gave two performances.

There was indifference' and disbelief' in the first half, but a fightback he could be proud of in the second."I have to be proud of my players for the way they dragged themselves back into the game," he said.

Fairclough and few Barnet fans could not be so complimentary about the first 45 minutes, however.

The Bees were very poor at the back and the Pirates took full advantage, their simple off-the-ball movement leaving their sluggish markers for dead.

Rovers were ahead after just four minutes when Ismail Yakubu made a mess of a ball over the top and Richard Walker nipped in to lift it over the advancing Ross Flitney.

It was two after 20 minutes. Barnet appealed for offside as Stuart Campbell slid in Walker, and the striker found the corner with a low drive for his second.

The Bees had a couple of long-range efforts and Simon King saw a shot deflected just wide, but few were talking of a comeback at the interval.

In fact, ex-Bee Junior Agogo had the chance to make it three a minute after the restart, but headed straight at Flitney when well placed. Agogo was to be presented with two further chances, but he was unable to put the game to bed.

And it was Barnet who struck on 68 minutes, Strevens heading home a Louie Soares corner to set up a very interesting finale.

The Pirates never looked comfortable at the back and, as the game wore on, the obvious anxiety from their home fans only made matters worse.

But it took the Bees until the last five minutes to really test the hosts' nerves.

Giuliano Grazioli was first to strike the upright. His hooked volley from a Hatch header came back into play and, as Rovers struggled to clear, the striker then saw a goalbound effort blocked by a defender.

Within a minute, Ian Hendon had floated over a free-kick and Hatch headed against the same post.

There was still another chance for Hatch at the far post in injury time, but he screwed his shot horribly wide and somehow Rovers had survived.

BARNET (4-4-2): Flitney; Hendon, Yakubu, King, Charles; Soares (Norville 78), Bailey, Sinclair, Strevens; Grazioli, Hatch. Subs not used: Tynan, Batt, Lee, Vernazza. Attendance: 5,096. Best Bee: Ian Hendon.