Relegation battle goes down to the wire

6:50pm Saturday 29th April 2006

Barnet 0 Stockport County 0 . . .

Barnet may still need to win their final match of the season at relegated Rushden & Diamonds next Saturday after failing to see off Stockport at Underhill this afternoon.

A cluster of clubs remain in trouble at the bottom of League Two and even a point at Nene Park next week might not be enough. On the other hand, the Bees could lose and still be safe. Oxford must beat promotion-chasing Leyton Orient to have any chance of avoiding the final relegation place.

It is a thrilling finale to the campaign, but Barnet would like to have wrapped it up today.

Manager Paul Fairclough said: "This game was played on a knife edge. There was not a great deal of football.

"We still created chances and had enough to have won the game. In the second half, we had the opportunities to have finished them off."

He summed up: "It was a hard-fought dogged battle between two teams fighting for their lives."

The Bees started brightly and Liam Hatch slipped Dean Sinclair in after just five minutes, but keeper James Spencer was out quickly to charge down his effort.

At the other end, Adam Griffin had keeper Ross Flitney pawing out a snapshot at his near post that took everyone by surprise.

Tresor Kandol did well to take down a high Simon King ball but his first-time shot was straight at Spencer, while Sinclair saw another effort blocked by the ever-alert County number one.

Stockport almost broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time, but Griffin blazed an inviting pull-back well over when he should have buried it.

Barnet were the better side after the break and created the best chances. Within five minutes, Sinclair latched on to a neat back-heel from Andy Hessenthaler and crossed deep for the arriving Nicky Bailey. His header looked goalbound but Spencer pulled off a superb save to deny him.

Paolo Vernazza then freed Hatch down the left with a nice ball over the top but the striker dragged his shot wide with just the keeper to beat.

The Bees were nervously snatching at their chances and it became increasingly obvious it was not going to be their day. King headed a Bailey corner well over before Bailey hooked a volley wide from a Damian Batt cross in the final ten minutes.

Stockport looked dangerous but the Barnet back four, with Paul Warhurst and King superb at the centre, rarely gave them a sniff at goal.

All that was missing for the Bees, not for the first time in recent weeks, was a goal at the other end.

BARNET (4-4-2): Flitney; Hendon, Warhurst, King, Gross; Sinclair, Vernazza, Hessenthaler (Batt 76), Bailey; Hatch (Roache 84), Kandol. Subs not used: Reed, Bowditch, Grazioli.

Attendance: 3,873.

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