BARNET 1 DONCASTER ROVERS 2

Both sides went into this game for their first match of 2003 after being idle on New Year's Day due to waterlogged pitches as heavy rain had drenched virtually the whole country. This gave Mustafa and Hudson chance to overcome slight knocks that they picked up in the Rovers' previous match against Leigh a week earlier, and Rovers had the luxury of naming an unchanged team, the only change coming as Warren Peyton replaced Paul Green on the substitutes bench after recovering from flu.

Barnet, one of the pre-season favourites for challenging for the promotion spots, began the day in midtable, and were forced to name flu victim Ricky Millard as their substitute goalkeeper, as the only other keeper on their books, Lee Harrison, was on loan at Peterborough. They were missing Strevens, Brown and Pope due to injuries, and named the same squad as played in the draw against Yeovil the previous week.

On a cold afternoon, Rovers began the afternoon kicking down the famous slope at Underhill, but began brightly, with Barrick firing a cross in from the left in the second minute, which Naisbitt caught. The first shot of the game came in the fourth minute after a long clearance out of defence by Andy Warrington, which found Robert Gill, but the young striker pulled his shot from the edge of the area across the goal, the ball going out for a goal kick. Rovers continued to dominate the proceedings, although Barnet did have a 20-yard shot from Gower in the 10th minute, which went straight at Warrington. Rovers went ahead in the 12th minute with Chris Beech getting away down the left, crossing the ball infield to Paul Barnes, who rolled the ball into the path of the unmarked Jamie Paterson, who curled the ball home around the Barnet keeper into the corner of the net from 15 yards. The Rovers pressure was paying off as they found plenty of space in the Barnet defence, with a cross into the centre by Robert Bill in the 17th minute being cleared by Greg Heald of Barnet. The continuing pressure paid off in the 18th minute when a high ball down the middle by Hudson was headed on by Barnes into the path of the on-running Gill, who ran between two defenders to brilliantly slot the ball past the keeper.

Barnet’s chances of pulling anything back seemed to disappear when their leading scorer, Junior Agogo, was substituted immediately after the Rovers’ second goal, with Agogo having been limping since the start of the game. It was all Rovers at this stage, although the second goal seemed to sting them into action, and Midgley had a 20-yard volley flying to the right of the Rovers goal in the 20th minute, and just after 23 minutes, Gower had a drilled shot from 25 yards go past the same post. Rovers could have gone further in front in the 26th minute when Paul Barnes had a powerful shot from outside the area parried by Naisbitt in the Barnet goal, with the keeper unable to keep hold of the shot, although he reacted quickly to grasp the ball at the second attempt.

Paterson was continually finding a lot of space out on the right wing, and had another chance to add to his goal haul in the 29th minute with a shot from 20 yards going just wide of the left post. Remarkably it took until half an hour of play before the first corner of the match was awarded, and it went to the home team, with Barrick clearing the near-post kick. The Barnet attack flickered into life in the 32nd minute, with Neil Midgley firing goalwards from 18 yards, but on-loan defender Mustafa did well to block the shot at the expense of a throw. Robert Gill could have had his second goal of the afternoon in the 38th minute when he headed a cross from Chris Beech over the bar from just inside the penalty area. Most attempts by the home team were coming from long range, with a 35-yard shot by John Doolan being blocked by Gareth Owen. Another long-range attempt came from Barnet in injury time of the first half, when Hendon’s right foot shot from 30 yards was blocked out for a corner by Tarkan Mustafa. The more direct approach of the Rovers side brushed aside Barnet in the first half, although the occasional shot by the home side did mean that Rovers would have to continually be on their guard.

Barnet came out for the second half intent on reducing the arrears as quickly as possible, and looked a much more effective and organised side than they had been in the first half. Gower’s cross in the 50th minute was headed over the bar by Greg Heald, but they succeeded in pulling a goal back within a minute, which followed a foul by Danny Hudson on Neil Midgley. The free kick on the right, taken by Gower, was aimed at the far post, and Ian Hendon rose to head the ball home into the bottom right corner from six yards. The goal gave Barnet encouragement, and they won another free kick in the 55th minute, with Gower again floating a ball in from the right – this time Hendon’s right-foot shot missed to the left of goal. Rovers were certainly on the back foot at this stage, although they did restrict Barnet to shooting from the 30 yard range, with Purser and Doolan missing from well outside the box. Another free kick was conceded by Rovers in the 63rd minute, with Gower taking the kick from wide on the left. The ball was floated into the centre, with Warrington having to punch the ball out of play. The first real Rovers attempt on goal in the second half did not come until the 68th minute, which followed a foul on Paul Barnes midway inside the Barnet half. The free kick was taken by Gareth Owen, with Mark Albrighton’s goal-bound header being saved by Naisbitt. The only booking of the game came in the 70th minute with Doolan being shown the yellow card for a foul on Jamie Paterson. Although Barnet continued to press forwards in search of the equaliser, the Rovers defence held firm, but it got desperate at times. Morley, Albrighton and Ryan performed heroics as they threw themselves in the way of Barnet shots, and Morley did well to block a shot by Purser from just six yards. Mark Albrighton ensured that Rovers would take all three points from the game when he blocked a shot from Purser from 6 yards off the goal line.

A very well won three points against a very strong Barnet side, which were even more valuable with both Yeovil and Chester registering victories during the afternoon. The win maintains Rovers in second place, five points behind Yeovil, but Rovers having a crucial game in hand on the leaders.