On a beautiful sunny day it was nice to have a mini tour around the capital and also have lunch at nice restaurant chain that I have a modest investment in: all in the cause of market research but more of that later on my sister site Stock Whittler. From Franco Manca it was off to the Black Lion in West Hampstead to meet up with friends in a sweltering pub garden; absolutely fabulous weather for April. Then back onto the travels to meet up with more fellow Hatters in the enormous away supporters bar at Barnet. The Barnet ground does come in for some criticism but to my mind it’s ok for a club of modest support and over the last few seasons they have definitely improved the ground. I wish I could say the same about the over the top stewarding; maybe they should take a trip to London neighbours to see how it’s done: I will miss Orient next season, a club wrecked by the management of incompetent owners.
As expected, Nathan apart from the departed Macey who was replaced by Stuart Moore, kept the same starting outfield players that took the field against Blackpool: the right thing to do in my mind. Both teams were pushing forward where they could during the opening exchanges with fairly open play but as far as the Hatters were concerned little in the way of chances. In fact Barnet had the more goal opportunities in the first half with their CB sending one header from a corner over the bar as our defenders felt the pressure from the taller members of the Barnet side; not all giants but enough big lads to cause problems. Stuart Moore in the town goal looked nervous in the first few minutes with a couple of crosses that came over, one was well cleared by Sheehan under pressure from Akinde and another at waist height that thankfully without contact from goalkeeper or player continued wide of the post. Akinde should maybe have done better with a couple of first-half efforts. The first tamely hit at Moore as the Barnet striker got away from our centre backs and the second after getting away from Cuthbert in the chase for a long ball Akinde was unable to beat Moore who managed to save with his legs, a good bit of goalkeeping. Chances for ourselves in that first half? Well, not much to say really, a Vassell effort but little else. We could easily have been behind at half-time as the allegedly weaker Barnet side that included some raw youngsters were ahead on efforts on goal if not actual goals scored. In the second half, the match became very scrappy for a period with the hatters marginally having the better of the play. Moore's confidence got another's boost with a splendid diving save high to his left to beat away a header from a Barnet header that came from one of the many free kicks given away by the Hatters in rather dangerous situations. At least as the second half wore on we were having plenty of attacking play and doing particularly well down the left flank where Vassell’s pace was a threat but sadly little in the way of chances were created. Nathan did react to bolster up the right flank by taking off O'Donnell who was not having his best afternoon, moving Justin to RB, Sheehan to LB and essentially going more into a 442 formation with Gambin on the left against his old club. Our other super Olly of the Palmer variety took Vassell's place alongside the totally knackered Hylton. From the edge of the area Lee passed a ball to Palmer and with the ball pinging around in the Barnet area Olly Lee managed to get a connection with his left foot to send the ball wide of the diving keeper and into the corner of the net; time for an Olly song but a much nicer one that was sang to him at Colchester & how he celebrated, beautiful! We tried for another without looking massively threatening then it was Barnet's turn to push us back and turn up the heat on this scorching afternoon. Again Barnet came close to scoring when a striker got free on the left of the penalty area to send a shot past the onrushing Moore only for Rea to make a superb last-ditch clearance to prevent Akinde being presented with an open goal. Very late in the game that man Akinde was presented with another chance, this time a header that he should have placed better but nevertheless it was well taken by Moore. Late on Smith came on for D'Ath whose effectiveness demonised as he tired in the warm conditions. Overall impression: We worked hard to carve out a win and can in fairness have Moore to thank for a couple of excellent saves that not only boosted his own confidence but also restored the fans faith after the Cheltenham nervous start. Please don't think we looked brilliant as we were certainly not but a win is a win and a very welcome one at that. Had Akinde been a better striker or at least on form, I doubt that we would have been talking about a win or maybe even discussing a draw. Lovely overall day out in the sunshine and although we won I felt we played a touch better last season at Barnet when we lost 2-1: the starting 11 that day were: Mitchell, O’Donnell, Cuthbert, Magnus, Sheehan, Rea, Smith, Pelly, McGeehan, Marriott, Benson and a certain Luke Gambin scored against us that day. NJ really needs to get into the players the silliness of some of the cheap free kicks that we tend to give away that lets sides with strong physical giants put us under pressure. Still, we must not grumble about a welcome three points and truthfully have Moore to thank for helping us secure those points. Did we look like a promotion side capable of storming through the playoffs to Wembley glory; well no we did not. We need to move up a gear or two if we are to achieve that goal and get closer to the type of fluent play we showed at Yeovil; we have certainly stuttered since that marvellous win. So we stumble on rather unconvincingly to what looks like a playoff place as the automatic promotion boat has sailed away without us on board. Thankfully our playoff place cause was helped by just about every result for other playoff hopefuls going in our direction. I wonder if Good Friday will bring a first of the season in terms of achieving three consecutive victories? A few thoughts on individual performances: Moore: believe me, Stuart Moore played really well and I am very pleased for him and the team; let's get behind him. O'Donnell: as ever some good bits and some poor bits. His crossing was poor and he struggled to hold the right in the second half. Cuthbert: a fair game from the captain but rode his luck on a couple of occasions in the first half including when beaten to a long ball by Akinde who really would have scored had Moore not been on hand to make a very good save. Rea: a determined display by Rea including a super clearance in the second half that kept the lead intact. Sheehan: made some good tackles and was always Mr reliable when the ball was got out to him on the left. Justin: overall played well both in terms of his defensive duties and when passing the ball around the pitch including a superb left to right cross field pass to O’Donnell in the first half. Lee: a second consecutive good game from Olly Lee and really an all-round decent performance from Olly including placing that shot for the winning goal against his old club. Pelly: a very muck bits and pieces game where he never really got his game effectively going and often let himself down after doing good initial work. D’Ath: fairly effective in the earlier part of the game but tired later in the second half in the heat. Never reached the standard he set last week against Blackpool. I thought Jones may have given him a rest a bit earlier than the 89th minute as he had drifted out of the game. Vassell: used his pace well particularly down the left side of the pitch was replaced by Palmer later in the second half. Hylton: gave all he could on batteries that seemed to be about 50% charged, I really expected him to be taken off at about the 70-minute mark as he looked to be totally exhausted. That tiredness probably did not help him with a clumsy tackle that brought booking number 13?? For the season. The Subs: Palmer: does he really need that extra foot in height as his best work seems to be on the ground? I thought he did quite well when he came on. Gambin: decent but not outstanding on the left against his old club. Smith: a late cameo performance closing down the midfield by our Smudger. The Teams Barnet: Stephens, H Taylor, Santos, Clough, Johnson, Vilhete, Bover (Amaluzor 69), Weston , Campbell-Ryce, Shomotun (J Taylor 60), Akinde. Subs: McKenzie-Lyle, Nelson, Akinola, Coulson, Tutonda. Yellows: H Taylor, Campbell-Ryce Luton: Moore, O’Donnell (Gambin 62), Rea, Cuthbert , Sheehan, Justin, Lee, Pelly, D’Ath (Smith 89), Hylton, Vassell (Palmer 62). Subs: Cook, Marriott, Musonda, King Yellows: Rea, Hylton
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Hi there, welcome to my site where I chronicle various things about the Hatters, a team I have followed since the mid 60’sArchives
December 2017
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