I'm on the train back to Newcastle and I've got to admit it's been a worthwhile trip. We started quite slowly and in the opening stages, it was pretty clear which team had more confidence. McCleod was giving McCready and Charnock all sorts of problems. Poor goal to concede defensively and Capaldi let his man get past him far too easily. At that point I honestly thought the floodgates might open because Barnet were in the middle of a really good spell and looked like they would create something everytime they attacked. I was relieved when we got the equaliser and really pleased for Danny Carlton (who incidentally never stopped running). To get a second in a half that I thought was more Barnet's was brilliant and seemed to knock the stuffing out of them.
Second half was a different story. We looked more assured and also looked a better side overall. How Spencer contrived to completely mess up when he ought to have scored I've no idea. Thankfully it didn't matter in the end. They seemed to quickly lose any confidence they had to begin with whilst we seemed to grow. Overall we deserved the win and I can now sup this wine more confident that we'll be a league club next season. Man of the match? Would be easy to give it to Danny Carlton, who as I say never stopped running. However, for me Andy Parrish stands out. Had their winger in his pocket for the most part and came up with some great lasy ditch tackles in the second half. Capaldi was the weak link. Yes, he throws were threatening but as a defender, he struggled. I think moving Wilson back to left back and giving Aley a debut on the left wing on Tuesday would be a better option though Sammy is unlikely to change a winning side. The centre back duo looked a bit shaky at times, too, but in the circumstances it's hardly surprising.
Interestingly, on the tube journey back to Kings Cross, there were two neutrals sat opposite me who had just happened to choose this match to watch this weekend. They thought we looked like a better team than Barnet and said they really enjoyed it. Without being prompted, they picked out Parrish as being the one they were most impressed with. For me though, the most pleasing thing about today was the fact that we battled for every ball and fought for the win we needed as a team. You could see what it meant to the players when the final whistle went. When you're where we are, that is what you need, in every match. One final word for the fans. I'm not normally overly fond of being amongst a chanting throng. But virtually all of today's repertoire were 100% in support of our side. Hardly any unnecessary swearing. Just great encouragement for the players. Take a bow guys, it made for a magnificent atmosphere