NO FESTIVE CHEER TO BE HAD IN A BORE DRAW
BOTH managers tried to lay claim to at least a moral victory, but in truth there was little to spread warmth or festive cheer on a largely insipid afternoon.
The play-off chasing Bees created the best chances in a match which rarely lifted itself above mediocrity – as the Shots failed to record a single shot on target in 90 minutes – and manager Darren Currie chose to accentuate the positives as his team took another tentative step towards improving their faltering away form.
He said:
“I’ve got a changing room full of players disappointed that we’ve only drawn the game, and that’s what we need going forward to ensure we’re not far away (from the top seven).
“Considering how clinical we’ve been in the final third of late, our decision-making wasn’t great and we didn’t have that cutting edge. But we looked solid and were the side most likely to score.”
A horribly scrappy, soporific first-half was illuminated only by the guile and enterprise of Barnet midfielder Jack Taylor, and his curling drive went closest early on. Brother Harry’s glancing header dropped just wide, before Jack’s own angled drive brought a comfortable save from Mitch Walker.
Far more impressive was Walker’s stop to repel Sim Akinola’s powerful downward header from Cheye Alexander’s superb deep cross.
Currie felt aggrieved at not being awarded a penalty after Josh Walker, stooping to meet a low cross, suffered suspected concussion from a boot to the head, but his replacement Ephron Mason-Clark proved a dynamic if fruitless replacement.
Mitch Walker parried David Tutonda’s drive only to see the ball deflect inches wide off Kodi Lyons-Foster and, from the resulting corner, former Shots skipper Callum Reynolds guided a header wide. The second-half roused itself slightly and Aldershot were briefly a rejuvenated force but still their best opportunity was Ethan Chislett’s swirling cross which brushed the crossbar. Mohammed Bettamer had a header cleared from inside the six-yard box amidst a goalmouth melee, and Chislett’s deflected shot was clawed away by a scrambling Scott Loach.
In the third minute of stoppage time, Chislett burst clear into the penalty area and seemed certain to score until a heavy touch allowed Loach to smother.
“Ethan thinks he should have scored and so does his gaffer,” smiled Shots boss Danny Searle ruefully. “I feel for Ethan – 99 times out of 100 he scores that.
“I’m disappointed that we didn’t nick it in the last few seconds, but overall we didn’t work their keeper enough, and it would probably have been a little bit unfair on Barnet. It’s another clean sheet and we looked hard to beat.”