Dean Brennan was ecstatic with Barnet’s improved display in a 2-0 win at Swindon Town as the Bees secured their first points since being promoted back to the EFL.
Late strikes from substitutes Emmanuel Osedebe and Dennis Adeniran snatched the win for Brennan’s side in dramatic fashion after Barnet had lost their opening three fixtures of the season.
He told the club website: “I’m delighted with the result, first and foremost because that’s what this business is about, but I’m delighted with the courage of the performance. I just thought everybody, to a man, served up and gave everything.
“It’s been difficult for us. We’ve had a lot of changes to the team in selections and so on, but it was just nice to make substitutions that make a big difference. It was nice to have the bench we had.
“We played a different type of game against a team that want to press us, so we decided to turn them, and it worked for us. I thought we played really well and deserved our victory.”
Summer signing Cieran Slicker made some outstanding early saves to keep the home side at bay, and Brennan was keen to praise his goalkeeper after displacing Owen Evans as the number one.
Brennan added: “'Slicks' is a high-class goalie, and this is his first bout of men’s football and senior football. I thought he was outstanding.
"He just made good decisions. I think he was involved in the second goal, it’s a great ball over the top for Li (Ndlovu) who pulled it back for Dennis.
“He made good saves when we needed him to. That’s his job.”
Barnet have struggled with injury problems since their return to the EFL, with key players such as Callum Stead, Scott High and Mark Shelton all missing significant minutes so far this campaign.
When asked about the impact of Osedebe and Adeniran, Brennan said: “It’s just nice to have the option to do that [to bring them off the bench]. We’ve had a lot of injuries. It’s been a stop-start eight weeks for us since we’ve been back, and it’s nice to get the victory.
“I’m just not getting carried away. We’ve still got important players missing. It’s great to have Stead back. You can see the influence he has on our team. I thought [Idris] Kanu was unbelievable, so a special mention to him.
“Just to a man, it was a special performance, but we just can’t get too carried away now. We’ve got to dust ourselves down and move straight on to Cheltenham.”
Barnet travel to Gloucestershire to face Cheltenham Town this weekend in League Two as they look for back-to-back wins for the first time since being back in the EFL.
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