Bees sting Daggers in double quick time
BARNET against Dagenham & Redbridge isn’t normally associated with Hollywood, but this clash at The Hive was Gone in 60 Seconds for the visitors as the hosts secured the win.
The first shot led to the opening goal after just a minute. Michael Gash placed the ball from the edge of the area calmly past Liam O’Brien after a good hold up from John Akinde.
Chasing consecutive wins, Martin Allen’s men dominated Dagenham and managed to protect rookie goalkeeper Max Crocombe well, aided by a Dagenham attack which didn’t register a shot on target in the first half.
But despite dominating the game from start to finish, Allen refutes the suggestion that it was Barnet’s best performance of his reign.
“We’ve played better than that before and not come out with anything,” he said.
“The finishing was better, and we’ve tried to reinforce the positives among the players.
“Our system is flexible, the players seem to enjoy it.
“We’re creating chances and the players are getting rewards for their hard work.
“We fully deserved the victory and it was a very good team performance.”
Andy Yiadom joined attacks and he doubled the lead for Barnet after 33 minutes, a reward for long spells of possession culminating in a curling shot past O’Brien that was laid on again by Akinde.
Wayne Burnett made two changes at half-time, including highly-rated teenage winger Jodi Jones, and he fired the visitors’ first shot on target.
But the game was safe with over 30 minutes left. Aaron McLean’s free-kick hit the wall and bounced invitingly for Gash, who was alert to bag his second.
Jones got a consolation for Dagenham. His freekick caught Crocombe out and the ball crossed the line after hitting the post.
The only downside for the hosts was that Akinde was unable to break his streak of eight scoreless games despite impressing.
He had opportunities either side of Jones’ strike, with O’Brien equal to all three. Allen added:“John worked his socks off for the team.We’ve got a tight-knit group of players. We all attack, we all defend, classed as one.”
Burnett praised the striker too, saying:“We couldn’t deal with Akinde, he was too much for us. They played off him and we found it difficult.
“We’ve got two home games now.We need to get our first win at home.
“I understand the supporters’ frustrations because they pay their money and they get a performance like that.
“I’m responsible for that and we have to put that right on Tuesday.”