Nationwide Conference
Saturday 22 March 2003

Report by Callum Williams
Pictures by Chris Holland

MARTIN Allen’s second game in charge brought another three points as the Bees avenged a 4-0 defeat they suffered at the hands of Hereford at Edgar Street earlier in the season.

For Saturday’s match at Underhill, Barnet welcomed back skipper Greg Heald with top scorer Junior Agogo taking a place on the bench after a two-game lay-off with a hamstring injury.

Barnet got off to a dream start when on-form Neil Midgley gave them the lead , converting a Wayne Purser pass into the right-hand corner of the net for his third goal in five days.

There then followed an uneventful 15 minutes before Hereford got back on terms when the Barnet defence failed to clear their lines and Paul Parry netted with a well-placed left-foot shot, which gave home keeper Danny Naisbitt no chance.

Barnet were then put under pressure again when Naisbitt fumbled a bobbling shot from Parry, but retrieved the situation as Steve Guinan homed in on the loose ball.

The home side missed out on a golden opportunity to take the lead on 38 minutes when Midgley was hauled down by Ben Smith just inside the penalty area, but Purser’s spot-kick was turned round the post by Hereford keeper Matt Baker.

Second Half

Barnet started the second half with Junior Agogo replacing Purser. This added injection of pace frequently kept the Hereford defence on their toes and Agogo on one occasion was denied a scoring chance by the assistant referee’s late flag.

On 62 minutes, another Barnet switch saw Matt Langston, on loan from Watford, come on to make his Bees’ debut in place of Frazer Toms.

Barnet’s all-important second and subsequently winning goal came on 67 minutes when Agogo slotted home right-footed from a cross by man-of-the-match Mark Gower.

Hereford applied long periods of heavy pressure on the Barnet goal in the final 20 minutes, but found a series of dangerous crosses, aimed at Guinan were capably dealt with by Greg Heald, Guy Butters and Lee Pluck.

Agogo came close to netting his 20th goal of the season when his stoppage time effort squeezed past the post.

Pictures

Midgley is congratulated by his team-mates after scoring the opener.

Barnet

G.Heald, 45, dissent
G.Butters, 62, unsporting behaviour
L.Flynn, 70, unsporting behaviour

Hereford

B.Smith, 45, unsporting behaviour
T.James, 71, unsporting behaviour

Teams

Barnet

D.Naisbitt, G.Butters, G.Heald, K.Rowland, L.Pluck, C.Pope, N.Midgley, M.Gower, L.Flynn, F.Toms (Langston 63), W.Purser (J.Agogo 46)

Unused subs: L.Baimass, R.Millard, C.Cashman

Hereford

M.Baker, M.Clarke, T.James, I.Wright, M.Rose, P.Parry, J.Pitman, B.Smith, A.Tretton, D.Williams (R.Purdie 80), S.Guinan

Unused subs: J.Rowe, R.Sawyers, R.Teesdale, K.Griffiths

Other Reports

BBC
Nationwide Conference

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