Barnet

2-1

Colchester

Yakubu 62, Puncheon 80

 

Cureton 34


The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON
Third Round Proper
Tuesday 9 January 2007
Winning clubs will receive £40,000 from The FA
Third Round replays and Fourth Round - Click Here



Barnet's 2-1 victory over Colchester at Underhill last night, League Two against Championship, was an FA Cup shock to compare with Nottingham Forest v Charlton and Sheffield United v Swansea at the weekend.

The Bees made history too, reaching the Fourth Round for the first time.

The club was formed in 1888 and first entered The Cup in 1911. As a non-League outfit they knocked out Newport and Northampton, both then in Division Four, and achieved a 0-0 draw at Second Division QPR.

Three years after being promoted from the Conference into the League in 1991 they held Chelsea to a draw, again 0-0, in a "home" tie that was switched to Stamford Bridge.

Barnet reached the Third Round stage in 1965, 1971, 1973, 1982, 1991, 1992 and 1994. The '71 fixture was coincidentally against Colchester, the U's winning 1-0 at Underhill and going on to famously beat Leeds in Round Five.

The U's are going well in their first season in the Championship, particularly at home, and last night's game was merely following its predicted course as Jamie Cureton gave them a first-half lead.

But Paul Fairclough's Barnet were a revelation after the break, rolling up their sleeves to hit back with goals from Ismail Yakubu and Jason Puncheon.

The latter's left-foot strike with ten minutes to go was so spectacular that there were about three seconds of silence before the Barnet crowd exploded.

There was total jubilation at the finish, the home side successfully negotiating an edgy three minutes' stoppage time to finally make it through to the Fourth Round of the world-famous competition.

They can now look forward to a home tie with Peterborough or Plymouth.

Jason Puncheon is one of the five nominations for the Player of the Third Round. Click here for more details.