Ten-man Barnet defeated Curzon Ashton 1-0 at Tameside Stadium to progress into the second round of the FA Cup.
Dean Brennan named three changes to the side that started at Oxford City. Idris Kanu and Sam Beard came in for Marvin Armstrong and Courtney Senior. Connor Stevens was also named in the starting XI to make his Barnet debut.
An awkward back pass from the Curzon defender almost gave The Bees the lead within 60 seconds as the ball bounced towards the empty goal. The Curzon keeper managed to recover the ball and save Curzon any early blushes.
Moments later, Idris Kanu had the first attempt of the game for The Bees. A curling effort inside the box went narrowly passed the post.
Connor Stevens was shown a yellow shortly before Kanu sent a terrific cross towards the back post, which found Sam Beard. Beard then heads the ball back across the face of goal towards Nicke Kabamba. The Curzon keeper did well to intercept and deny Kabamba the opening goal.
The opening goal did come through Kabamba after an excellent passing move found Finley Potter just outside the Curzon box. Potter found Kabamba, who headed in the ball from close range to give The Bees the lead.
The hosts almost got a goal back straight away but were denied by an excellent block from Connor Stevens.
The Bees continued to press. Zak Brunt put a perfectly timed ball at the feet of Kanu on the edge of the Curzon Ashton box. Kanu sent a low-driven strike towards goal, which was well stopped by the Curzon keeper.
Callum Stead then did excellently to win possession inside the Curzon box before playing the ball to Kanu, who couldn’t quite find his feet to get the shot away.
Curzon had their first real attempt at goal on the 40th minute mark when a strike from the edge of the box went over the bar.
Stevens debut would come to an end after being shown a second yellow card just before the break. Goal-line heroics from Finley Potter would ensure The Bees went into halftime with the lead.
HT: Curzon Ashton 0-1 Barnet FC
The second half began with a double Barnet substitution. Danny Collinge and Jordan Cropper came on for Sam Beard and Finley Potter.
Curzon came close to an early equaliser from a strike well outside the Barnet box. The stunning effort looked to have beaten Laurie Walker, only for him to make a fantastic diving save to keep the score 1-0.
The home side did eventually find the back of the net, but the celebrations were cut short after the linesman raised his flag for offside.
Walker was called into action again as Curzon played the ball across the face of goal. Walker did well to claw the ball away from the feet of the attackers.
Callum Stead then had a great chance to double Barnet’s lead as he manoeuvred himself around the keeper before hitting the post with his attempt.
The Bees defended brilliantly with ten men for the remainder of the game and saw out the 1-0 win, which sees us progress into the second round of the FA Cup.
Starting XI: Walker, Okimo, Kabamba (Hooper 75′), Stead (Armstrong 88′), Kanu, Pritchard, Hartigan, Stevens, Beard (Cropper 46′), Potter (Collinge 46′), Brunt (Gorman 75′)
Unused Substitutes: Gillmore, Senior
Goals: Kabamba (15’)
Yellow: Stevens (x2), Kanu
Attendance: 626
