BRENNAN’S BEES CAN FINISH WITH A FLOURISH

BARNET continued their strong end to the season with a hard-fought victory in a fiery game against already relegated Weymouth at the Bob Lucas Stadium.

Adam Marriott put the Bees in front from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time before Dan Powell doubled the advantage three minutes into the restart.

Nathan Carlyle halved the deficit with 18 minutes to go but Barnet held on to take their unbeaten run to four.

“I’m delighted to win,” said Barnet boss Dean Brennan. “It’s very difficult to win away games in the National League.

“We want to see passion from our players, that’s what we’re looking for.

“I thought the referee was excellent, he could’ve got his red cards out but he’s experienced and managed the game well.”

Weymouth’s Sean Shields started brightly on the left and he conjured up the first chance when he delivered a dangerous cross into the penalty area, Tom Blair dived in to make contact but could only manage the slightest of touches, making it easy for keeper Aymen Azaze.

Tensions were raised when Barnet’s Teddy Howe was seen to push Blair off the pitch over the barriers. A scuffle broke out with referee Scott Tallis brandishing a yellow to Howe amid the chaos.

Barnet were then awarded a penalty when Ephron Mason-Clark went down in the penalty area from the slightest of touches and Marriott stepped up to send Ross Fitzsimons the wrong way.

Buoyed by this, the visitors came out firing after the break and within three minutes they had doubled their lead. Howe was involved again as the left back ran into the Weymouth area before squaring the ball across the face of goal for Powell to tap in.

Credit to Weymouth, they continued to press forward in search of a lifeline. Shields lobbed a ball towards the back post where Blair met the chance with a shot on the volley. However, the ball skyrocketed over the bar.

A series of corners saw them threaten again and they eventually paid dividends in the 72nd minute when Tom Bearwish’s shot came out to Carlyle, who smashed a shot in to the top corner.

Shields had the chance to level it three minutes later but his curling effort from the edge of the area just drifted wide.

Tensions were raised again when Azaze appeared to pull Bearwish down to the ground off the ball but referee Tallis decided not to act.

Weymouth boss David Oldfield added: “We have to keep working. It is a big shame that we haven’t managed to be much better in all parts of the game.”

On the referee, he added: “It’s very difficult to referee a game. There’s no excuses from us.”