Surely, the game against Rotherham United on Saturday must have been a sense of déjà vu for the Bees players and supporters alike. A week previously, 1-0 down at Sincil Bank, being overlooked by the spectacular Lincoln Cathedral, Barnet were having chance after chance and failing to hit the back of the net. Yet again, Barnet come up against a keeper who was named in the League 2 ‘Team of the Week.’ Jordan Parkes was still firing long range shots, but after 697 attempts in two matches, none have smashed the goal to smithereens with so much pace, that the ball bounces back out like a yo-yo. Mark Marshall picked up where he left off 120 miles up north just seven days previously, terrorising the opponent’s defenders with the odd step over and Theo Walcott type pace.
All that hard work on the attacking front, and still, nothing much to show for it after over 180 minutes of football. Down where I was perched at Underhill, our fans were almost laughing at how one sided the game was, in Barnet’s favour, against a team with the best striker who could be found at the top of League 1, let alone League 2. Don’t forget, last time Rotherham United visited this part of London; it was the Playoff Final at Wembley in front of over 30,000 spectators. All we needed was one goal, that we all knew was just about to come in a minute. Instead, we conceded one goal after 69 minutes. Then a second. Then a third. Not even enough time between the three goals to say ‘Clovis Kamdjo’.
Rotherham let a three goal lead slip after half time the previous Saturday at home against Burton Albion, but comebacks like that never happen when you’re a Barnet supporter, getting one goal back like we did, is more our standard. I’ve admired Rotherham for a few years now, and with Adam Le Fondre ready to sign a new contract, I think this visit will be their last trip to Underhill in the league for some time. I think they’ll outdo most other teams in the division, and I won’t be surprised if they take the division by the scruff of the neck and win the league.
Next up, it’s another long trek, this time to the seaside and a new stadium with Morecambe our destination. Let’s hope we continue our attacking style of play, but this time take a few of our chances. I think it’s fair to say that Barnet haven’t been the luckiest team in the world so far this season, so let’s hope the team doesn’t get fed a dodgy portion of fish and chips before the match. That would be just our luck, wouldn’t it?
Unfortunately, I won’t be at The Globe Arena on Saturday, but I will be back up and running at the Wycombe away game on Tuesday with another match report.
