Town poor but Barnet are the Bees knees
FC Halifax Town were comprehensively beaten 3-0 as they were outplayed by league leaders Barnet. On Grand National day, Barnet showed exactly why they are the front-runners in the race to the Football League with an impressive display.
Halifax, meanwhile, have drifted away from the chasing pack and ended up falling before the final hurdle.
Martin Allen was effusive in his praise of Neil Aspin in his programme notes, saying the day Halifax beat his side 4-0 last season was when he knew he needed to rebuild and that Town were the inspiration behind his current team. Praise indeed.
The Barnet boss can’t fail to have been delighted with how The Bees started with Mauro Vilhete’s shot looping over Matt Glennon after Elliott Johnson’s cross.
Allen paced his technical area as if he was walking on hot coals but his energy and enthusiasm on the sidelines were matched by his players.
Town hadn’t buckled but were under enough pressure to convince the Halifax bench a change was needed, with Jamie Jackson replacing Graham Hutchison, prompting a switch to 4-4-2.
Although it didn’t pay im- mediate dividends, with Curtis Weston’s shot deflected wide and Conor Clifford’s thunderbolt from 30 yards crashing off the bar.
Allen was in wind-down mode as the interval approached, imploring the seats just in front of the press box not to give the ball back straight away when it bounced out of play.
So John Akinde’s effort was a bonus, especially as it came from a Scott McManus backpass that was too short, allowing the striker to nip in for his 31st league goal of the season.
It was also his 10th in his last 13 games and his seventh in his last six home appearances; League Two watch out.
Any faint hopes of a Town comeback ended when a superb jinking run by Andy Yiadom was followed up by Curtis Weston slotting in his low cross six yards out.
Cue chants of ‘we are going up’ from the main stand, a song Halifax fans won’t be singing again this season. Barnet: Stack; Yiadom, Stephens, N’Gala, Johnson; Vilhete (Gambin 86), Togwell, Weston (Villa 85), Clifford; Akinde (McDonald 80), Gash. Subs not used: Saville, Muggleton. Scorers: Vilhete (2), Akinde (44), Weston (62) Shots on target: 9 Shots off target: 5 Corners: 8 Halifax: Glennon, Bolton, M Roberts, Hutchison (Jackson 20), Williams, McManus, Maynard, Pearson, Hatfield (Schofield 46), Hattersley (Boden 83), Muldoon. Subs not used: Senior, K Roberts. Shots on target: 0 Shots off target: 2 Corners: 1 Attendance: 2,150 Town man of the match: James Bolton