Bees fail to recover from nightmare start

8:06pm Saturday 15th April 2006

Oxford United 2 Barnet 0 . . .

The Barnet fans started to leave the Kassam Stadium a good ten minutes before the end this afternoon.

And you cannot blame them.

This was another woeful away performance from the Bees, which never really improved after they gifted the hosts a goal within 41 seconds.

Ross Flitney was the villain. He hit a clearance straight at Tcham N'Toya and the striker retrieved the ball to fire under the embarrassed keeper for the first of his two goals.

Manager Paul Fairclough made no excuses.

"Our preparation was perfect, but you can't legislate for what went on in the first minute.

"It's human nature that that would have affected the players and we then presented them with a second goal as well."

Fairclough added: "Once the players cross that white line, I have got no control with what's going on. We just continue to make things difficult for ourselves."

Though Barnet raised their game a little after the interval, Fairclough admitted they had given themselves an almighty task' and never really looked like scoring.

The Barnet boss praised the visiting supporters for their efforts and said he could understand their frustration.

"They must be bitterly disappointed. They want to blame someone and they can blame me, as long as they don't blame the players. My shoulders are broad enough to take it."

But Fairclough was perhaps being kind to his troops. Some of his players looked uninterested and the heads dropped far too quickly. There were few bright spots, the battling Barry Fuller being one of them. Despite only being on loan, he looked more determined to keep the Bees in the Football League than some of those who helped get Barnet into it last season.

The visitors never really recovered from their nightmare start. Anthony Charles' back pass looked routine, but Flitney seemed to want an age and N'Toya closed him down and made the inevitable block. He still had work to do, but he picked the ball up from a tight angle and fired under the keeper to give Oxford their dream start.

Paolo Vernazza forced Billy Turley to push behind a volley a couple of minutes later at the other end, but that proved to be the only time he was called into serious action.

Charles blasted another good chance well over before N'Toya chested down a ball into the box and, after dummying Charles, fired home a second on 26 minutes.

Oxford were nothing special (they had not scored two goals in a game this year) and they failed to trouble Flitney again. Sadly, the Bees, despite enjoying more possession after the interval, lacked any sort of penetration and the match petered out, the damage already done.

BARNET (4-4-2): Flitney; Hendon (Batt 66), Warhurst, Charles, Clist; Fuller, Hessenthaler (Sinclair 68), Vernazza, Bailey; Strevens (Hatch 64), Kandol. Subs not used: Reed, King.

Attendance: 6,948.

Best Bee: Barry Fuller.

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