Tisdale admits they must improve
EXETER boss Paul Tisdale could only hold his hands up and applaud home side Barnet after his team were thoroughly outplayed at the Hive.
A Troy Brown own goal and Josh Clarke’s fine solo effort either side of halftime was enough to give the Bees a 2-0 home victory that saw them move up to 16th in the League Two table.
And a despondent Tisdale, who lost defender Jordan Moore-Taylor to a late fitness test, admitted Barnet were well worth their three points and believes there is some soul-searching to do for his players.
“I am disappointed with the result,” he said.
“But I’m more disappointed with the way we played.We have got some work to do if that is going to be our level of performance.
“Well done to Barnet; they played their game particularly well and took their chances.
“Troy Brown didn’t mean to do it, but the ball was in the box frequently enough, and with the amount of players in there and that frequency, it went in. I certainly wouldn’t put it down to luck – they deserved that goal based on the pressure they put on us.
“I am not going to hide away from it; the players need to be more effective. And we did not do what we had to do and Barnet deserved to win I think.”
Two yellow cards and an own goal summed up Exeter’s first-half performance at The Hive. Brown’s error came in the 34th minute, the Grecians’ centre-back heading the ball straight into his own net while trying to clear Josh Clarke’s swinging cross.
It did not get much better for the visitors after the break with Barnet resolute in defence and Jamie Stephens on form in goal.
And just before the hour-mark the Bees made Exeter pay for a sloppy corner, clearing the ball to Clarke who ran the length of the right touchline before cutting inside and slotting the ball past Bobby Olejnik to double his side’s advantage.
And Barnet’s assistant first team coach, Gary Waddock, said the Bees can afford to rotate their squad given their recent form that has seen them win three of their last four games.
He said: “It’s very important given there’s a long season ahead. At the moment we are in a nice run of form, and the manager can rotate and can put players in there.
“He knows he will get a response and performance and the players that are on the outside are waiting for that opportunity, so it keeps everybody on their toes.
“Everything has been positive, every member of that group has contributed to it and been very positive in the results that we have got.”