One man less no problem for Sarll

DARREN SARLL felt his 10-man Stevenage side were a match for the 11 men of Barnet after they came away from the Hive with a slender victory.

Tom Pett’s wonderful volley proved enough for Boro to win this derby clash and move to third in League Two.

But it was a stormy afternoon for the visitors after Dale Gorman was shown a red card before half-time for a dangerous challenge on Mauro Vilhete.

Stevenage had to mainly sit behind the ball after this and their efforts ended up stifling Barnet, who struggled to produce chances.

“In the second half we just wanted to make sure we were engaged and pressured their players,” Sarll said.

“The big thing for me was our mentality and although this will come across disrespectfully to Barnet, I thought my 10 were better than their 11.

“I’ve got to applaud and commend the players for their togetherness and determination to get the result. It was wonderful.

“All winning teams have that thing where they go away from home and win games. They impose themselves on the arena and take away points. So with that in mind, I’m really proud of the players.”

Pett produced his excellent strike in the 27th minute, getting on the end of a Joe Martin corner with the ball hitting the post en route to the net.

The visitors had been in total control until Gorman’s dismissal 10 minutes before the break. Barnet looked to make the most of their advantage and before the half-time whistle had hit the post twice and seen Shaquile Coulthirst squander two great chances.

After the restart, Barnet applied pressure again but found themselves up against a solid defensive wall and a confident goalkeeper in Joe Fryer.

Ultimately, Barnet were left frustrated as they failed to create chances in the box and could not test Fryer from long range sufficiently.

“We didn’t create enough clear-cut chances and we weren’t reactive enough when the ball went into the box,” Barnet boss Rossi Eames said.

“The league is our bread and butter and where you have to be consistent at your game otherwise you get punished.

“We made one mistake from a set-play and they punished us. That’s down to me and I’ve got to make sure this doesn’t happen any more. The players didn’t walk onto the pitch and decide that they would play like that – it’s down to me.”