Bees let two-goal lead slip

6:37pm Saturday 4th March 2006

Barnet 2 Wrexham 2 . . .

A goal for both Barnet strikers in the same game is a rare event, but it was still not enough to see off Wrexham at Underhill this afternoon.

Jason Norville and Tresor Kandol shot the Bees into a two-goal lead, only for the visitors to hit back.

Manager Paul Fairclough said: "We shot ourselves in the foot."

He added: "In the last three home games we have thrown away victories against good teams."

Fairclough blamed a lack of communication and discipline for allowing Wrexham to haul themselves back into the game.

Barnet were cruising at 2-0 up, but let it slip just before the break. Tresor Kandol had already hit the bar with a shot at the back post and headed another great chance over before Norville found the net with a beauty on the half-hour. He charged down a clearance on the left-hand side and cracked an unstoppable drive into the roof of the net from a tight angle.

Kandol was not to be outdone. Within seven minutes, he picked up a poor clearance by Wrexham keeper Michael Ingham and surged into the box. No one really made a challenge and he was allowed to go all the way. Ingham blocked the shot but not enough to stop it heading for the corner where a defender only helped it in.

It might have been a different outcome if Barnet had held their two-goal cushion until the interval, but, with a minute to go, Mark Jones fired home for the visitors after the ball had rolled invitingly into his path as the Bees struggled to clear their lines.

Wrexham started the second half stronger and Sam Williams should have done better with just Matt Reed to beat after beating the offside trap, but he shot weakly at the keeper.

Within a minute, Matt Derbyshire had also beaten the offside trap, according to the assistant referee at any rate, and he had time to compose himself before slipping the ball under Reed for a 52nd-minute equaliser.

Jones headed over at the far post with the goal gaping on 66 minutes, while Kandol had an effort charged down by Ingham from inside the six-yard box in the final moments.

But neither side really did enough to warrant the victory in the second half and the draw was, in the end, the fairest result.

BARNET (4-4-2): Reed; Hendon, Yakubu, Charles, Clist; Strevens (Hatch 73), Hessenthaler (Lee 62), Fuller, Bailey (Sinclair 73); Norville, Kandol.

Subs not used: Jones, Vernazza.

Attendance: 2,127.

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