The Bees came away from a sunny Highbury Stadium with all three points as five fantastic finishes on bank holiday Monday saw the amber and black army travel back to the capital with a well-deserved victory.
Dean Brennan made one change to Friday’s draw against Bromley, with Joe Kizzi coming in for the suspended Danny Collinge. Ben Winterburn returned to the matchday squad after a period on the sidelines.
The first action of the afternoon saw Cieran Slicker called in early on to deny Ronan Coughlan who found himself one-on-one with our number 29, but the Bees’ shot-stopper pushed the danger away.
The Bees had the ball in Fleetwood’s box shortly after with Kabongo Tshimanga who worked it well towards goal, but before he could get a shot away, Jay Lynch was there to gather.
As the game passed the 15 minute mark, Barnet found themselves in Fleetwood’s half again and Nnamdi Ofoborh sent a shot from inside the area towards goal, but there were enough red and white shirts in the way to stop the ball in its tracks.
A cross from out on the right-hand side from Adam Senior took a deflection and floated into the hands of Lynch as the Bees continued to look for an opening in the first 45.
The Bees had their best chance of the half as the clock struck 30 minutes. Shelton’s short corner found Ofoborh, who fed the ball into Ryan Glover on the edge of the area and our number 15 curled an effort towards goal, forcing Lynch to punch the ball away as it was heading for the top right corner.
The hosts grew into the game as the half continued, getting the ball into Barnet’s box on numerous occasions, but the amber and black shirts did enough to keep the scoreline goalless.
As we entered a minute of extra time, Fleetwood found themselves down to ten men when Shaun Rooney committed a nasty foul on Ryan Glover and with more time added for the stoppage, it allowed the Bees to press and they found the opener on the stroke of half-time, when Romoney Crichlow played the ball into Callum Stead, who slotted the ball into the back of the net to see us ahead at the break.
Half-time: Fleetwood Town 0-1 Barnet
Dean Brennan made a switch at half-time, with the cautioned Shelton making way for Anthony Hartigan.
Our number 18 put his stamp on the afternoon’s action in Lancashire just minutes later when he found himself with the ball in plenty of space outside the area, before unleashing a tremendous effort that soared into the top right corner to double the Bees’ lead after the restart.
The hosts closed the gap just four minutes later through Harrison Neal who slotted the ball past Slicker.
The Cod Army continued with the momentum, with Slicker parrying away a powerful effort from Elliot Bonds inside the area, before clawing away a goal-bound shot from Ched Evans.
Our second change of the afternoon came on the hour mark, with Phil Chinedu being replaced by Idris Kanu.
Fleetwood found their equaliser when referee Declan Bourne pointed to the penalty spot, with Mark Helm slotting past slicker from 12 yards out and bringing the score level.
A double change for the Bees followed, with Glover and Kizzi making way for Diallang Jaiyesimi and Kane Smith.
Just minutes after Fleetwood’s spot-kick, the referee pointed to the spot up the other end, giving the Bees a chance to regain their advantage.
Kabongo Tshimanga stepped up and just like he did on Friday, fired the ball into the roof of the net from the spot.
The number 20 completed his brace a couple of minutes later, connecting first time with a delivery from Jaiyesimi to restore our two-goal advantage, scoring his ninth goal in amber and black.
With a minute of the ninety left, Ben Winterburn entered the action, replacing Tshimanga who got a rapturous applause from the 145 travelling Bees’ fans.
The goals didn’t stop there and this time Jaiyesimi got in on the action, finding himself with the ball at his feet in the area and without hesitation, sent it soaring into the back of the net to round of a fantastic second-half response on the road.
Full-time: Fleetwood Town 2-5 Barnet
Line-up: Slicker, Senior, Stead, Glover (Jaiyesimi, 75’), Shelton (Hartigan, 45’), Tshimanga (Winterburn, 89’), Chinedu (Kanu, 60’), Crichlow, Tavares, Ofoborh, Kizzi (Smith, 75’)
Goals: Stead (45+3’), Hartigan, (47’), Tshimanga (77’, 79’), Jaiyesimi (90+4’)