Bee-no makes a point

Fixture: Barnet 2 Oxford United 2
Date: 25/4/11

In direct contrast to Saturday's game, Oxford faced a side in Barnet who were battling to stay in the Football League. Wilder made two changes to the starting line up - one forced, Worley for the injured Sangaré and one tactical, Craddock coming in for Potter. Surprisingly he only named six substitutes so the line-up was: Clarke, Batt, Tonkin, Wright, Worley, McLaren, Hall, Payne, Constable, Craddock, MacLean. Subs: Eastwood, Kinniburgh, Purkiss, Marsh, Potter, Woodley.

Barnet's Underhill ground evoked memories of the Manor with it's sloping pitch and Oxford found themselves kicking uphill in the first half. Barnet were obviously trying to take advantage of this in the first half as they looked to build a first half lead. Their game-plan looked good as they dominated the early stages and on 8 minutes they squandered a gilt edged opportunity to take the lead. Taylor, virtually on the goal line, looked certain to score but somehow Wright managed to get a block in to deflect the ball over the bar.

Two minutes later their early pressure finally told as Oxford failed to deal with a deep free kick into the box, Clarke flapped at thin air and the ball was headed in from close range from Kamdjo. After going a goal down, Oxford finally started to put some passes together and won their first corner of the game. The Bee's, now with something to defend, looked nervous for the first time in the afternoon and started to give the U's some space in which to play.

On 15 minutes Craddock picked up a loose ball just inside the Barnet half and broke forward to the edge of the area. He then picked out James Constable on the edge of the D who checked back onto his left foot to fire the ball past the grasping fingertips of the goalie and into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Stung by the goal, the Bees responded by pinning Oxford into their own half with a series of long probing balls trying to exploit the slope and the pace of their front men. One striker had a shot from outside the area which bounced awkwardly in front of Clarke and after a heart-stopping fumble he managed to gather the ball at the second attempt.

On the half hour another free-kick was delivered deep into the area which Clarke caught, but he was bundled over the line by a Barnet player which sent the home crowd into raptures as they thought they'd scored again. The referee though had blown for a foul - causing much amusement in the Oxford end as the announcer was naming the scorer while Clarke was taking the free kick!

Five minutes later Clarke came to the rescue as he made a spectacular flying save from a fierce shot from outside of the area. Oxford had to defend deeply and were relying on quick breaks to try and get up the other end. One such break on 40 minutes saw Batt sprint into space in the oppositions half but he suddenly pulled up holding his thigh and went down in a heap. After being treated by the physio he hobbled off the pitch to be replaced by Purkiss.

Barnet had one more effort before the half ended which took a heavy deflection and went wide. So the teams went into the break all square at 1-1 with the Bees having had the best of it.

The second half really stirred memories of the old days as Oxford lined up to kick down the hill. Unfortunately the current crop of players, brought up on nice flat pitches, proceeded to overhit many of their passes, not compensating for the slope. The old boys from up the hill could have shown these youngsters a thing or two!

Barnet on the other hand were still deploying the same tactics from the first half and were pumping the ball long. Ten minutes in, following a foul on MacLean, Payne whipped in a swerving cross into the box, Constable nearly latched onto the ball but it bounced too high for him to get a proper shot on target.

Just as Oxford seemed to be getting more of a grip on the game, Barnet regained the lead when Hughes dispossessed MacLean and was allowed to run unchallenged towards the edge of the area. Once there he produced a lovely little lob over Clarke and into the right-hand corner of the net. Oxford's immediate response was to bring on Alfie Potter for Steve MacLean.

Next, Barnet's McLeod was put through on goal, easily outpacing the U's defence but Clarke came quickly off his line to smother the ball bravely at the strikers feet. There were then two penalty appeals for both sides, firstly for Barnet after Wright deployed a good old-fashioned shoulder barge, then for Oxford when Constable went to ground after a challenge, but in both cases the referee waved play on.

Constable then went close with a header from a Josh Payne free-kick but two minutes later Oxford were back on level terms. Intercepting a pass, Worley broke forward into the Barnet half picking out Craddock. He in turn made a lovely pass through Barnets defence to Payne who was charging down the right wing. His cross found James Constable unmarked in the box and the striker buried the ball from close range.

Desperation now started to set into the Barnet side as they sought a winner to help their survival. Every ball was now just launched aimlessly at any one in an amber shirt but the Oxford defence had now got the measure of them and were repelling all their efforts with ease. There was one last chance for the Bees at the death but Clarke was equal to the effort after diving to save at his near post.

The final whistle was greeted with muted applause by the home fans but the Oxford fans were, by contrast, ecstatically celebrating. Why? Well news of the result from Sheffield Wednesday confirming the relegation of the inbreds from up the A420 had just come through. Roll on next season!