Fairclough proud of giantkilling Bees

9:05pm Saturday 12th January 2008

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Barnet manager Paul Fairclough said he was proud of his players after their superb 1-0 win at league leaders MK Dons this afternoon.

The Bees won courtesy of a first-half Ismail Yakubu effort.

Fairclough said: "I'm very proud of the players, the performance and our supporters. It was a very intelligent victory."

The result sent shockwaves around League Two, as the Dons had won seven of their last eight games, drawing the other.

"Although Milton Keynes had a lot of possession, I think we had authority for most of the game. If anyone looked like scoring, it was us," Fairclough added.

There were almost 10,000 people at the MK Stadium, something that helped Barnet, according to Fairclough.

"The arena gave the players a lift, but I thought their fans were particularly quiet in the first half, while the second half was almost like a cup-tie atmosphere."

Fairclough has chosen to play with just one up front for the last three games, with much success.

He said: "We were leaking goals, so we've changeed our shape and system. We've now only conceded one goal in three big away games."

The Barnet defence, particularly centre-backs Joe Devera and Yakubu, put in superb performances and had much to do with the win, though it was a solid all-round display.