Barnet’s match against Newport County was called off at half time this afternoon, after a torrent of rain led to a waterlogged pitch at Rodney Parade.
The Bees had started the game in explosive fashion and found themselves ahead after just 22 seconds.
John Akinde connected with a neat flick-on from Ben Tomlinson before firing a left footed volley past Joe Day and into the back of the net.
Barnet could have doubled their lead soon after – Curtis Weston picked up Akinde’s knock down on five minutes, before crashing a powerful effort against the Newport County crossbar.
The home side had their first chance of the match in the 14th minute, when Darren Jones’ shot flew high over the bar from just a yard out.
Reece Grego-Cox’s drive was then deflected over the bar by Michael Nelson with 19 minutes on the clock.
Newport continued to come back into the game after Barnet’s early goal and had a great chance to equalise on 25 minutes.
Former AFC Wimbledon forward Sean Rigg whipped in a dangerous cross from the left – that was met by the head of Dan Butler, but his effort flew inches wide of the left post.
Jack Compton’s long-range shot ended up going marginally high and wide of the left post with seven minutes of the first half to play, as the rain poured down on Rodney Parade.
Referee Graham Salisbury made the decision to call off the match during the break, with the game to be rearranged for a later date.
Reacting to the decision, Martin Allen said:
“It was a great start for our team – we started very brightly and hit the bar, which could have made it 2-0.
“Newport were bound to come back into the game at some point.
“They had a lot of possession and a couple of half chances, hitting the crossbar themselves.
“They’re a different team to what they were last season.
“Now we’ve got to pack up our stuff, head off home and move on to the next match.
“I don’t agree with the decision – there were three patches of water down one wing.
“I thought that the referee owed it to the players, supporters – and more importantly the Barnet supporters that have travelled down here – to give it another ten or fifteen minutes in the second half.
“There were only three patches on the pitch that were wet, the rest of it was completely fine.”
Next up for Barnet is a trip to Field Mill, where the Bees take on Mansfield Town.
BARNET: Vickers, Vilhete, N’Gala, Nelson ©, Johnson, Nicholls, Togwell, Weston, Tomlinson, Akpa Akpro, Akinde.
Subs Not Used: Stephens, Watson, Campbell-Ryce, Sesay, Champion, Batt, Payne.
