BEES BUZZ THROUGH BUT LOACH IS THE HERO

THREE sparkling second half goals saw Barnet progress into the next round, but they needed to thank keeper Scott Loach, who made two superb saves to keep the runaway National League leaders at bay when the tie was scoreless.

Loach’s heroics kept the Bees in the tie and proved crucial when a spell of three goals in the space of eight second-half minutes ensured Darren Currie’s men made the last eight.

“For 60 minutes we were on top,” moaned Bluebirds boss Ian Evatt. “We dominated the game and after two errors that contributed to their first goal we just lost confidence and belief.

The score flatters Barnet, it is a harsh lesson.

“Some of my players didn’t come up to scratch today. However, the positives are that for an hour we were OK and with there being no extratime or penalties I can get some serious rest into my players for the 13 massive league games to come.”

The Bees fielded their strongest starting line-up with the league leaders opting to make six changes from their last outing.

There was a distinct lack of coherent play in the first half with the gusty conditions and the below-par pitch conspiring to see players regularly misplace their passes.

After almost an hour’s play, extra-time and penalties loomed large with goalscoring attempts few and far between.

But the game would burst into life when Loach acrobatically pushed on to the bar a powerful shot from distance by Barrow’s Lewis Hardcastle.

The crowd were now roused and, urging the Bees forward, they were rewarded when Cheye Alexander steadied himself in the box before firing a low shot into the net.

Two minutes later, Simeon Akinola latched on to a deft through ball by David Tutonda before applying a clinical lobbed finish.

The tie was put beyond doubt six minutes later when Josh Walker displayed individual skill and precision to find the back of the net with some aplomb.

The quality of the goals was out of keeping with much of what had gone before, but their rapid-fire nature definitively ended any hopes the Bluebirds might have had of completing “the Non-League double”.

Bees boss Currie said: “We were much better in the second half, it was much more like what we are capable of.

“In the first half we didn’t pass the ball at all well, Barrow had pressed us high and we weren’t able to play through their pressing.

“Barrow handled the ball better than us in the first half but, in all honesty, I didn’t think they asked too many questions of us in the final third. But you can’t deny they were better than us early on.

“In second half we had more urgency and more energy, and we looked a bit more like ourselves.”