Barnet scored four goals in an electrifying second half on Friday night to record their first win of the season in style against 5th placed Northampton Town at Underhill. New player coach, Edgar Davids made his debut for the Bees in a five man midfield with just Jake Hyde up front.
The first half saw the Bees a little tentative but somewhat more settle than they have been of late. Davids found his way into the referee’ book in the first 15 minutes must have been a collectors item for him!) and Northampton had chances to take the lead in a dour first half in which the home side fail to create chances. Bees’ keeper, Graham Stack cause consternation amongst the home fans by too often giving the ball to defenders ho were not really in a position to do much except ply it back to the goalkeeper.
HT: Bees 0 Cobblers 0
Barnet started the second half in a livelier mood and it looked as though someone (Robson/Davids?) had given the players a strong half time talk. Anthony Edgar came lose with an effort that the Northampton keeper did well to push away for a corner and from the resulting corner taken by John Oster, Krystian PEARCE headed a simple goal, on 56 minutes, to put the Bees in front which brought much relief from players and fans alike in the ground.
If Barnet being ahead wasn’t shock enough to the home fans, further delight was to come when on 65 minutes when Andy YIADOM found space on the edge of the penalty area and beat one defender before firing home with a shot that took a deflection to make it 2-0.
The second goal sent the East Terrace into scenes of wild delirium, but with 25 minutes left on the clock, the Bees hadn’t won yet. However, the cobblers rarely threatened the Bees’ defence and it was the home side that looked more likely to score again. Jake Hyde was working hard up front and, on the left hand side, Jordan Brown and Anthony Edgar were playing well off each other. David Stephens and Krystian Pearce looked solid in the centre of the defence as well. But all the creativity was coming off Edgar Davids and John Oster and with time ticking away, Barnet added two more goals to ensure the three points. First, John OSTER drove home from fully 30 yards after Hyde had played a good ball across to him and then Anthony EDGAR scored an excellent fourth goal of the evening after being put through by Davids, beating the defender and then curling a fine shot into the far corner.
After the previous home defeat by Plymouth, this performance saw a quite remarkable transformation, particularly in the second half when Barnet gave as good a performance as has been seen at Underhill for a long time. Though Northampton failed to impress, it still must not be forgotten that they are a side that is expected to push for at least a play-off place this season. Another factor too was the improvement in the atmosphere around Underhill and performances like this one can only help in creating a noisy and fervent atmosphere at home games in the future. The game showed that the fans will respond when they are given something to cheer about.
Clearly, Edgar Davids has had a very positive effect on the players and given the whole club and the fans, who appear to have already taken the former Ajax star to their hearts, a massive lift, one that, hopefully, can be sustained and which will lead to Barnet quickly moving up the table. If the Bees can keep producing the kind of f orm that they showed in the second half against Northampton then it seems highly unlikely that they will be relegated. Watch this space!!
Barnet Mad Bees' Man Of The Match: John Oster
Barnet: Stack; Fuller, Pearce, Stephens, Brown; Kamdjo; Yiadom, Oster, Davids, Edgar; Hyde.
Subs not used: Cowler, Saville, Lee, Byrne, Abdulla, Nurse, Lowe.
Att: 2721
