Allen hails newfound Nicholls firepower
MARTIN Allen hailed the firepower at his disposal after summer signings Alex Nicholls and Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro came off the bench to help his side claim a point at Cambridge.
The U’s struck first in a cagey match through a debutant of their own, Piero Mingoia, who capped a flowing move in the 61st minute. But Allen threw on his two new strikers and saw Nicholls lash in the equaliser.
Akpa Akpro was also a thorn in Cambridge’s side in the closing stages, and Barnet manager Allen said: “We’ve definitely got something extra in our armoury compared to last year. We have a strong team and a strong bench.
“Alex is a finisher and Akpa Akpro was very unlucky not to start because he’s been superb in pre-season.
“They’re pushing for a place in the team because they’re quality players at this level.
“I’m very disappointed to only draw the game, because apart from the first ten minutes we were attacking throughout.
“They scored on the counter, and the game was basically being played near their goal all the time.”
A quiet first half saw neither keeper tested, with U’s skipper Luke Berry coming closest with a whipped freekick that flew just over.
United boss Shaun Derry introduced Ben Williamson as a second striker at half-time, and this seemed to give Cambridge some impetus, with the lively Mingoia shooting over from distance.
The opening goal came from a Barnet corner, which was cleared by Berry into the path of Harrison Dunk on the left. He held the ball up and fed Blair Adams, whose low cross flashed across the goal and was tucked in by Mingoia. It took an outstanding block from Leon Legge to prevent Akpa Akrpo netting from close range in the 71st minute, but three minutes later Nicholls made no mistake, stepping from the right flank and beating Will Norris with a powerful shot.
Derry, who saw the influential Dunk limp off with a hamstring injury, said: “We were all expecting a good performance this afternoon and we didn’t deliver. We looked nervous and edgy at times and we’ve come away thankful for a point.
“We never grabbed hold of the game. We made a positive change at half-time to try and get on the front foot, and scored the goal, but the substitution of Harrison really knocked us.
“Fair play to Martin with the subs he made because they worked.”