Unbeaten Bees in the top two

Nick Sandamas on a strong start to the season for Barnet FC

A view from one stand at a football ground looking across the pitch to the stand on the other side — Exeter : St James’ Park by Lewis Clarke, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0 >, via Wikimedia Commons

As we move towards the quarter point of the season Dean Brennan’s Barnet are on course to start October in the top two. At time of publication, the losses column for this season was still reading zero and the Bees’ unbeaten run in the league, stretching back to last season, stood at 16 matches.

Two away games kicked off September with the trip to St James Park, not Newcastle but the home of Exeter City. Taking the lead on the hour mark through Idris Kanu’s first goal of the season, Barnet were ahead for a mere seven minutes. Regan Cole levelled matters for the Grecians and they had to settle for a point in Devon.

A visit to Chesterfield the following weekend produced a six goal thriller as the Bees threw away the lead three times. Goals from Tom Knowles, Zac Williams and Kabongo Tshimanga had each put Brennan’s side ahead but Joel Randall’s strike deep into stoppage time broke Bees hearts and they headed back up the M1 with a point rather than three following their third consecutive draw.

There then followed two back to back home games both against the might of Lancashire. First up was Accrington Stanley and it was a hard fought encounter which saw the Bees prevail with a 2-1 victory. Charlie Lakin scored twice in the second half after Charlie Caton had given Stanley a first half lead.

Fleetwood Town (also unbeaten) arrived at The Hive the following Saturday but, despite Will Davies equalising Tshimanga early penalty, second half strikes by Lakin and Kanu gave the Bees victory and top spot.

With their games against both Crawley Town and York City postponed due to international call ups for Kanu, Osisin Gallagher and Brandon Comley, the Bees first action this month will be against AFC Wimbledon in the EFL Trophy with back to back away league games against Bristol Rovers and Tranmere to follow – then home games against Swindon and Oldham with a trip to Crewe to finish the month.

Overall, it’s been a really strong start for Barnet and, following the disappointment of just missing out on the play-offs at the end of last season, they are currently on course to be back in the promotion mix, with strong hopes of a better outcome.

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