LDV Vans Trophy
14 October 2003

By Callum Williams

UNDERHILL was a hive of activity when a young Bees side from Barnet took on the Bees of Brentford on Tuesday in an LDV Trophy tie that had everything.

Six goals, two sendings off, extra time and a nail-biting penalty shoot-out was more than enough to keep a 1,200-plus crowd happy, even if a Barnet side packed containing a large number of teenagers ultimately stumbled at the final hurdle.

Barnet took just six minutes get the evening's entertainment rolling against their Division Two opponents as man-of-the-match Guy Lopez hammered the ball into the top corner of the net from 25 yards.

The competitive midfielder then became the first of a crop of names to go into referee Trevor Kettle's book on the night following a late challenge on Steve Hunt.

Norman Sylla's header came close to increasing Barnet's advantage before Brentford conceded a 33rd minute penalty for handball against Joel Kitamarike. Young Soloman Henry made no mistake with his spot-kick, firing the ball into the bottom corner.

Brentford hit back with Ben May heading against the woodwork and Jay Tabb going close from six yards.

Second Half

The visitors had to wait until five minutes into the second half before opening their accout with Tabb drilling home a left-foot shot from 20 yards.

Brentford soon suffered a setback when May was sent off for violent conduct after unceromoniously wrestling Lopez to the ground.

Play then swung from end to end with new signing Shane Gore, in the Barnet goal, distinguishing himself with a couple of fine saves to block Brentford's road to the second round.

At the other end, substitute Liam Hatch, making an unexpected and welcome return after three months out injured, had an effort well blocked by Brentford keeper Smith.

The next twist came five minutes from time when Brentford were awarded a penalty in an incident, which saw Barnet's teenage defender Mark Cumberbatch dismissed for a professional foul. Hunt made no mistake with the spot-kick to tie things up at 2-2 and take the game into extra time.

Extra Time

Lee Roach the woodwork for Barnet, but Brentford seemed destined for victory on the "silver goal" rule when Tabb grabbed his second goal with a neat finish from six yards, despite Barnet protests that Lopez had been fouled in the build-up.

However, Barnet's Bees were not to be denied and the impressive Hatch capped an impressive return by firing them level from close range in the 103rd minute.

A second period of extra time failed to separate the two sides and the final sting in the tail in the battle of the Bees was a penalty shoot-out in which Brentford held their nerve.

Penalties

Hunt, Kevin O'Connor and Michael Dobson scored their decisive spot-kicks, while Lewis Hogg netted Barnet's only successful effort.

Although it was the relieved Brentford fans, who went home acting as if their team had won the LDV Trophy, FA Cup and Champions League rolled into one, there was plenty for Barnet boss Martin Allen and his players to look back on with pride.

The performance of the young players, a successful return for Hatch and the way the team competed throughout against League opposition must have been as sweet as honey for the Bees of the Barnet variety.

Bookings

Barnet

G.Lopez, 9, unsporting behaviour
N.Sylla, 51, unsporting behaviour
L.Hogg, 55, unsporting behaviour
M.Rooney, 64, unsporting behaviour

Cumberbatch, 84, professional foul (sent off)

Brentford

L.Roget, 45, unsporting behaviour
E.Hutchinson, 86, dissent
J.Kitamirike, 90, unsporting behaviour
J.Tabb, 99, unsporting behaviour

B.May, 54, violent conduct (sent off)

Teams

Barnet

S.Gore, Cumberbatch, S.King, T.Taggart, M.Rooney, S.Henry (Freeman 90), L.Hogg, G.Lopez, L.Baimass, L.Roach, N.Sylla (L.Hatch 79)

Unused substitutes: J.Smith, Smith, R.Millard

Brentford

P.Smith, L.Roget, S.Evans, S.Hunt, M.Dobson, A.Frampton (J.Smith 103), J.Tabb, B.May, J.Kitamirike, Olugbodi (K.O'Connor 46), T.Rougier (E.Hutchinson 46)

Unused substitutes: M.Somner, Lennie

Other Reports

Nationwide's Conference Site

If you know of any other reports please email me the link on info@bfcsa.net

I check unofficial sites that we link to when putting these reports up and link to the equivalent report if there is one (so long as it is original). Please see our links page if you want to exchange links.

I am no longer linking to Barnet's official site's match reports. Please see here for more information.

I have made a small exception for BRIANSUPSJHONSTILL's reports, which are on the official site's messageboard - you will need to be registered to see these reports - but they're well worth it!

Want to write Match Reports?

If you are interested in writing match reports for bfcsa.net then click here for more information.