6:39pm Monday 17th April 2006
By Paul Wreyford
Barnet 1 Mansfield Town 0 . . .
Liam Hatch scored his first goal of the season to edge Barnet closer to League Two survival.
But the Bees made hard work of it. Though the Stags finished the match with nine men, it looked like the nervous hosts were playing with two less players in the tense closing minutes.
Manager Paul Fairclough said: "At this stage of the season, it's all about winning. You could see how raw and nervous we were in the last 20 minutes.
"The players are so anxious to do well and get out of trouble."
Fairclough praised the response of his troops. After Saturday's awful performance at Oxford, this was a battling display.
"It was still a victory that was well deserved," he said. "The response from Saturday was magnificent today . . . to come out and force the issue and get the result."
It was a memorable day in particular for Hatch.
Fairclough added: "It was great to see Liam Hatch getting his belief back and getting the goal."
The striker took just ten minutes to make the breakthrough. A Nicky Bailey corner was only half cleared and Hatch swung his right foot to meet a loose ball some 12 yards out. He could not have hit it sweeter and the ball rocketed past Kevin Pressman to give the Bees the lead.
Hatch was unlucky not to claim a second a minute before the interval. He latched on to some hesitation among the Mansfield defence and knocked the ball over the advancing Pressman before slotting into the empty net. It appeared he had used his head, but the assistant linesman flagged for handball.
Mansfield offered little but they could have equalised a few minutes earlier. An Ian Hendon clearance was charged down and Alan Russell headed the loose ball over the advancing Ross Flitney. Stephen Dawson helped the ball towards goal under pressure from Andy Hessenthaler, who did just enough to put him off, and Anthony Charles was on the line to clear.
The Stags were rocked by two dismissals in the first 25 minutes of the second half. Giles Coke received a second yellow card after a challenge on Barry Fuller on 55 minutes and then sub Danny Reet was shown a straight red for a tackle that left Nicky Bailey writhing in agony with 20 minutes to go.
But Barnet did not know how to make the most of their two-man advantage and became edgier the longer the game wore on.
However, they still had chances to seal it. Bailey struck the outside of the post after a Hatch flick-on and sub Damian Batt shot straight at the keeper after being freed down the right.
At the other end, Richie Barker was allowed a free header in the 89th minute, but he fortunately placed the ball a foot wide. It was a lucky escaper for the Bees.
Five extra minutes of stoppage time made for a tense finale but Barnet held on to record their third home win on the trot.
BARNET (4-4-2): Flitney; Hendon, Warhurst, Charles, King; Sinclair (Vernazza 83), Hessenthaler (Batt 90), Fuller, Bailey; Hatch, Kandol. Subs not used: Reed, Gross, Roache.
Attendance: 2,784.
Best Bee: Liam Hatch.
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