Barnet 1-0 Burton Albion
Second Round Proper Replay
Tuesday 11 December 2007
Underhill Stadium
Winning club receives £24,000
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Third Round draw details
Barnet set up a Third Round tie with Swindon after a 1-0 victory over brave Burton Albion in a frosty Second Round replay in North London. Adam Birchall’s 83rd minute strike proved enough to see off the Conference side on Tuesday night.
Aided by the treacherous Underhill slope, the home-side crafted a host of early chances.
Birchall, recalled to the starting line-up in place of the suspended Liam Hatch, warmed the palms of Kevin Poole with a number of early efforts as the home side started brightly.
Shaun Harrad cut a forlorn figure as Nigel Clough’s side struggled to stem the Barnet tide. There were shouts for a penalty on 20 minutes after Jason Greaves appeared to handle the ball, but referee Woolmer spared the blushes of the Burton skipper.
Barnet struggled to maintain their early momentum and took until the 44th minute to carve out another chance on goal.
Birchall, who had looked the most likely to break the deadlock, could have sent the home side into the break a goal to the good. The striker swivelled on the six yard box, but his acute effort grazed Poole’s left-hand post as the sides went into half-time level.
With the game in desperate need of a goal after the restart, Neil Bishop came close to breaking the deadlock for the hosts. Having found space in the area his right-footed volley was saved smartly by Poole as Barnet started the second half with the same tenacity as they had the first.
Poole again had to be alert to flick Kenny Gillet’s measured strike over the bar, much to the frustration of the Underhill crowd. The winger bustled his way into the area having been picked out by Birchall, only to be thwarted by the heroics of the former-Leicester keeper.
Burton too were eager to improve on a nervy first-half showing and should have been a goal to the good on the hour. Keith Gilroy stole in between the two Barnet centre-backs after a long throw-in was helped on by Jake Edwards, but with the goal at his mercy, the Albion midfielder could only nudge the ball against the crossbar.
While the scores were level Burton still had hope of snatching an unlikely winner. They had the ball in the back of the net courtesy of Harrad on the hour, but a late flag from the linesman denied the visitors.
Barnet, with no win in six, lacked a cutting edge as a host of long-range efforts trickled wide of the mark.
In a game bereft of real quality, Adam Birchall scored a fitting winner. The Barnet striker took advantage of some slack defending to lash the ball home on 83 minutes to relieve the tension at a bitterly cold Underhill.
As the visitors went in search of an equaliser, Barnet were able to make use of the space left by a vacant Albion midfield. Anthony Thomas was put clean through but could only hit the post, with the rebound falling to the grateful Poole.