Paul Fairclough's mighty Barnet Army stormed to the 4th round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history after a hard won victory over Championship high-flyers Colchester United.
In a Tuesday night game postponed from Saturday (waterlogged pitch) 3009 fans braved the cold to watch a game which exited nearly as much as the Arsenal game most of you were probably watching on the telly.
Col U came out battling, and had most possession in the first half, but the Barnet defence under the guidance of captain Ian Hendon, back from injury, stood up to everything they threw at us. 'Keeper Lee Harrison, also back from three games out with a thigh strain, proved his worth with some great keeping. Alas, a defensive error from Dean Sinclair saw Col U go into the break 1 up.
The Barnet fans were not despondent, however; we remembered well the last round, where we were one down to Northampton at half time and came back to win 4-1. And Barnet came out fighting. We had the bulk of the possession in the first 10 minutes, with a strong Col U defence and some good keeping preventing strikes from Sinclair, Puncheon and Bailey hitting the back of the net.
It was the inspired substitution of Cogan for Hatch which sealed Col U's fate, and mate history for the Bees. Liam Hatch is becoming a bit of a cult hero at Barnet, being famed for missing open goals. But on Tuesday night he moved the game up a pace, and from that point on the Essex boys had no chance. A scrappy goal from Ishmail Yakubu pulled the Bees level, and then a glorious strike from Jason Puncheon made it two-one. Puncheon is, rightfully, up for the Player of the Round award.
The ref, obvously from Essex himself, played at least 5 minutes over normal time, before adding a crazy three minutes injury time - something we all questioned as there had been no injuries at all in the second half. The last moments of the game were tense, with the U's making two attacking substitutions, and the Barnet goal facing an onslaught. Still, Harrisson and our defence, most notably Yakubu, kept the Championship side at bay.
When the final whistle went, the relief and joy from the crowd could be felt all over the ground; all over North London. Through to the 4th round, for the first time ever, by beating a team 56 places above us. Our next tie: either Plymouth or Peterborough, again at home. It may not be a big money game, which we could certainly do with...but it might, *might* mean that the mighty mighty Barnet Bees get to the 5th round of the FA Cup; something I don't think any of us ever dreamed possible at the start of the season.
Well done lads.
![TalkFootball/cheers.gif](http://1.<a href="http://www.forumer.com">forumer</a>.com/html/emoticons/TalkFootball/cheers.gif)
Vicky
In a Tuesday night game postponed from Saturday (waterlogged pitch) 3009 fans braved the cold to watch a game which exited nearly as much as the Arsenal game most of you were probably watching on the telly.
Col U came out battling, and had most possession in the first half, but the Barnet defence under the guidance of captain Ian Hendon, back from injury, stood up to everything they threw at us. 'Keeper Lee Harrison, also back from three games out with a thigh strain, proved his worth with some great keeping. Alas, a defensive error from Dean Sinclair saw Col U go into the break 1 up.
The Barnet fans were not despondent, however; we remembered well the last round, where we were one down to Northampton at half time and came back to win 4-1. And Barnet came out fighting. We had the bulk of the possession in the first 10 minutes, with a strong Col U defence and some good keeping preventing strikes from Sinclair, Puncheon and Bailey hitting the back of the net.
It was the inspired substitution of Cogan for Hatch which sealed Col U's fate, and mate history for the Bees. Liam Hatch is becoming a bit of a cult hero at Barnet, being famed for missing open goals. But on Tuesday night he moved the game up a pace, and from that point on the Essex boys had no chance. A scrappy goal from Ishmail Yakubu pulled the Bees level, and then a glorious strike from Jason Puncheon made it two-one. Puncheon is, rightfully, up for the Player of the Round award.
The ref, obvously from Essex himself, played at least 5 minutes over normal time, before adding a crazy three minutes injury time - something we all questioned as there had been no injuries at all in the second half. The last moments of the game were tense, with the U's making two attacking substitutions, and the Barnet goal facing an onslaught. Still, Harrisson and our defence, most notably Yakubu, kept the Championship side at bay.
When the final whistle went, the relief and joy from the crowd could be felt all over the ground; all over North London. Through to the 4th round, for the first time ever, by beating a team 56 places above us. Our next tie: either Plymouth or Peterborough, again at home. It may not be a big money game, which we could certainly do with...but it might, *might* mean that the mighty mighty Barnet Bees get to the 5th round of the FA Cup; something I don't think any of us ever dreamed possible at the start of the season.
Well done lads.
Vicky
![TalkFootball/35.gif](http://1.<a href="http://www.forumer.com">forumer</a>.com/html/emoticons/TalkFootball/35.gif)