Barnet travel South to the Broadfield Stadium This evening to face another regelation-battling side in Crawley Town under the lights in West Sussex.
Dean Brennan will be hoping for St Patrick’s Day success on the road as they look to bounce back to winning ways after Saturday’s defeat at the hands of Newport County at The Hive.
Despite the visitors pressing from minute one, the Bees were able to control proceedings in the first-half, finding spaces out wide and in the pockets to exploit the Exiles’ defence.
The deadlock was broken just after the half-an-hour mark when Cieran Slicker’s one-touch clearance fell kindly to Callum Stead, who controlled the ball well, before rolling it past Jordan Wright to give the home side the advfantae at the halfway point.
The visitors came out firing on all cylinders following the restart and after Danny Collinge courageously cleared Ben Lloyd’s effort that was heading for goal and Crichlow coming close to capitalising from a Bees’ corner, Newport got their equaliser with 25 minutes to go.
The visitors continued to get the ball into the Bees’ box and were rewarded for their persistent press James Crole found the back of the net with less than ten minutes left on the clock.
Barnet have now recorded consecutive defeats for the second time this year and will be looking to bounce back with a positive result when they travel outside of the M25 this evening.
Barnet’s last five results:
Barnet FC 1-2 Newport County
Salford City 2 – 0 Barnet FC
Barnet FC 1 – 0 Chesterfield
Accrington Stanley 0 – 1 Barnet FC
Colchester 4 – 1 Barnet FC
Crawley Town:
Another relegation-battling side that the Bees come face to face with, in the latter stages of the campaign, the Red Devils are one of the four relegated sides that occupied one of the 24 spots in League One last season but now see themselves one point above the relegation zone heading into match 38 of the campaign.
The West Sussex side haven’t recorded a win since late January, but have picked up four draws against sides in the top half of the table. Two of those stalemates saw goalkeeper Matt Macey keep clean sheets, with goals in added time securing valuable points in the others.
Scott Lindsey’s side held Colchester United to a goalless draw last time out at the JobServe Community Stadium, in a performance that Crawley were proud to claim a point from, with their opponents seeing it as a missed opportunity to get closer to the play-off places.
In terms of chances created for both sides, it was a pretty even affair, but for a Crawley side who are up their for opportunies created and chances missed in the league, it may be seen as another missed opportunity to climb higher to EFL safety.
Crawley Town’s last five results:
Colchester United 0-0 Crawley Town
Crawley Town 2-2 Swindon Town
Oldham Athletic 2-0 Crawley Town
Crawley Town 1-1 Chesterfield
MK Dons 0-0 Crawley Town
In the opposition dugout:
Scott Lindsey is approaching a year in charge of the red devils and will be hoping his side can pick up enough points in the last nine games to avoid back-to-back relegations to the National League.
The 53-year-old was very busy in the winter window, bringing in 13 new players, which included striker Tobi Adeyemo on loan from Championship side Watford and the return of Wembley hero Danilo Orsi.
The Red Devils’ boss described his side’s performance at Colchester United as ‘dogged’ and believed they may have been able to nick victory near the end when Ronan Darcy struck a half-volley, but it was well-saved by Matt Macey.
Ones to watch:
Centre-back Charlie Barker has been a consistent performer for Crawley this season, starting 32 games this campaign.
The 23-year-old joined the Red Devils last season has since made 83 appearances.
Barker’s ability to control the tempo of the game from deep makes him one of the first names on Lindsey’s team sheet every week. He’s particularly strong in the air and his understanding of the game and ability to balance progression and protection of the ball makes him a key member of the Crawley crew.
Last time the two sides met:
The Bees came out on top in our New Year’s Day clash with Crawley Town at The Hive, with Joe Kizzi ‘s brace proving to be the difference in securing Barnet three points in the first fixture of 2026.
The scoring was opened on the five-minute mark, when our number 30 headed home a Mark Shelton corner for the early advantage.
Both sides created chances as the first-half continued, but the visitors found an equaliser when Harry McKirdy positioned himself in Cieran Slicker’s blind spot before he rolled the ball into the path of a Bees’ defender, but the Red Devils’ forward was able to intercept it to bring proceedings level at the break.
Kizzi’s second oof the afternoon came with 15 minutes to go, when Ryan Glover’s ball got a touch from the 32-year-old to send it into the back of the net.
COYB