Allen joy at Bees smash and grab job
BARNET boss Martin Allen celebrated his 150th game in charge of the Bees in style as his side staged an unlikely comeback to grab a point at promotion-chasing Accrington.
Down to ten men and two goals behind, Barnet pegged back the hosts with John Akinde’s lastminute header sparking wild celebrations on the touchline.
“What a comeback it was and it’s a brilliant tactical change from the manager,” laughed Allen after the game.
“It’s got to be one of the highlights of my 500 games as a manager – to change it and play with three men up front when we’re down to ten men and get a draw.
“It was a great effort from all the players and staff, which makes me happy.
“Going down to ten men galvanised us and sometimes it can affect the other team.We went forward, they went back and happy days. It’s a great point.”
Stanley dominated possession for the first quarter of the match as Brad Halliday and Piero Mingoia peppered the Barnet box with a succession of crosses.
But the visitors held firm, playing with the confidence and organisation born of five clean sheets in six games as they denied Stanley the space their intricate passing demanded.
When Stanley did get a chance, Jamie Stephens was the equal of Rommy Boco’s curling shot on 19 minutes as he expertly tipped the ball away to safety. Eight minutes later Halliday’s daisy cutter was just wide.
The second half looked to be following a similar pattern until the 57th minute when Halliday flung over a cross that evaded a Barnet head and Billy Kee tapped in.
With play opening up, Allen made a double substitution but the game looked over for them once Stanley doubled their lead in the 73rd minute when the ball fell kindly to Matt Crooks who slotted home.
Substitute Luke Gambin made the last ten minutes interesting when he converted Akinde’s cut back and despite Barnet going down to ten men when Chris Hackett was forced off with an injury, they drew level in the 90th minute when Akinde headed in Mark Randall’s free-kick.
Accrington manager John Coleman said: “I am sick for the players as they didn’t deserve that. We made two errors but the officials made a couple of errors too. The first goal was offside but we should have defended it better. For the second I didn’t think it was a foul for the free-kick.
“We have to rise above the mistakes but if we play like that between now and the end of the season we will definitely get promoted.”