Cobblers put the boot in (From Times Series)

Cobblers put the boot in

6:35pm Saturday 10th December 2005 in Sport By Paul Wreyford

Barnet 0 Northampton Town 1 . . .

A moment of madness at the start of the second half cost Barnet the points at Underhill this afternoon.

The Bees could have no complaints when the referee pointed to the spot after a lunging challenge from Damian Batt felled Junior Mendes in the box.

Scott McGleish drilled in the resultant spot kick and there was no way back for Barnet.

In truth, fellow defender Ismail Yakubu was just as much to blame, having lost the ball to Mendes moments earlier.

But manager Paul Fairclough did not want to be too hard on his battling troops after the game.

He said: "I'm frustrated but extremely proud of the players. They gave everything they could possibly have given.

"We lost the game because of a single error."

Fairclough added: "We played good football, but did not get the goal we deserved."

Indeed, no one could fault Barnet's effort and they enjoyed much possession. But they lacked a cutting edge up front and created few really good openings.

The first half was certainly devoid of goalmouth incident. After Dean Sinclair had shot just wide within 15 seconds of the kick off, the Bees failed to carve out another opening in the first 45 minutes, despite their good approach play and tenacious tackling.

The only chance of note came at the other end on 35 minutes, Martin Smith seeing a volley go just wide.

Northampton moved up a gear after their gift of a penalty and had chances to make it two as the second half wore on.

Barnet's best two chances came within two minutes of each other midway through the half. First, Liam Hatch somehow held off the challenges of two defenders and kept his feet in order to free Giuliano Grazioli, but his shot was across the face of goal and wide. A minute later, a stretching Grazioli just failed to reach a Batt cross into the six-yard box.

The Cobblers continued to carve out chances as the Bees were forced to throw everyone forward in the closing stages. Sub Ryan Gilligan headed just wide after keeper Ross Flitney and defender Anthony Charles allowed him to nip in between them and get on the end of a long clearance.

Barnet never really looked like saving the game and the biggest cheer from the home fans was reserved for the late introduction of sub Simon Clist, who came on for the final eight minutes to enjoy his first taste of competitive football this season.

BARNET (4-4-2): Flitney; Batt, Yakubu, King, Charles; Bailey, Sinclair, Lee, Strevens (Clist 82); Grazioli, Hatch. Subs not used: Tynan, Vernazza, Norville, Roache.

Attendance: 2,544.

Best Bee: Liam Hatch.