Martin Allen and his players won’t have seen it this way in the aftermath of Saturday’s draw at Kidderminster Harriers, but now the dust has settled, it must be said the result was the best outcome for The Hive.
Many supporters – including those who attend matches – are still, understandably, not sold on The Hive.
It is fair enough. Nothing can replace a club’s home and when their current base is not even in the borough bearing the club’s name, it is hard to make a case on sentimentality.
But this is not about the rights and wrongs of the Bees’ migration from Barnet to Edgware.
Underhill holds fantastic memories for Barnet fans, not least the dramatic final home game against Wycombe Wanderers in 2013, which I suspect will be the abiding memory of the ground for many fans.
Jake Hyde’s goal. Graham Stack’s penalty save. If you could bottle the emotion of those moments and sell it there would, surely, be no need for illegal highs.
The scenes of that final match at Underhill will live long in the memory of those who are still at the club today – Stack, Andy Yiadom, David Stephens, Elliott Johnson and Curtis Weston all started the game, with Luke Gambin and Jon Nurse on the bench.
Now The Hive gets its opportunity to shine.
If Barnet win promotion on Saturday – in front of what will hopefully be a sell-out – then the pictures and the memories will be set against the backdrop of their current stomping ground.
Promotion back to the Football League against a faltering Gateshead side will be The Hive’s defining moment.
Of course, not everyone will accept The Hive and that is their prerogative. But the sheer elation of winning promotion there will go a long way towards bridging that gap for many supporters.
Considering their recent history with the final day it should come as little surprise Barnet have taken this title race to the death but in drawing with Kidderminster they have simplified the task at the very least.
After the Bees equalised at Aggborough a chant of ‘score again and you’ll be champions’ went up from the away end.
A frantic five minutes of scouring Twitter, checking the BBC and Sky Sports live score pages ensued and Bees press officer Tom Clee even phoned his mum at home for confirmation of the goal from Final Score but could not turn up a goal.
It proved a false alarm but Ricky Modeste eventually ensured he’ll never have to buy a pint in Barnet (or Edgware) ever again by equalising for Dover Athletic.
It was that kind of confusion which typified the day and particularly the final 15 minutes after Luisma Villa had written his name into modern Barnet folklore by tucking home the all-important leveller.
The task is now simple: win against Gateshead and Barnet will be champions.
Rovers will – barring a freakish outcome – not manage the 14-goal swing so there will be no need to worry about what Darrell Clarke’s side are doing for the players; their task will remain the same, win, lose or draw.
Fans and those of us in the press box will, of course, be frantically refreshing Twitter and flicking between the various live score services to see if Alfreton Town have sprung a surprise at The Memorial Ground, regardless.
And after their 2-2 draw at home to Welling United today, the Reds have it all to play for in the West Country as they remain in the final relegation place thanks to their inferior goal difference.
They were, after all, obstinate opposition at North Street when the Bees visited recently.
All football fans claim their team does it the hard way but Bees supporters have a much stronger claim to that cliché than most. Win the championship and it might just be time to start accepting The Hive as ‘home’
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