Bees striker Jack Barham was in a positive mood despite last night’s (24th July) defeat to an Arsenal XI.
The visitors raced into a 3-0 lead in the first half, courtesy of a Folarin Balogun hat-trick, but the Bees fought back in the second half thanks to goals from Barham and Charlee Adams.
Barham highlighted the importance of taking the positives from a strong second-half performance as the new season approaches.
He said “Once we got into the game we showed everybody that we can really hurt teams, however, we have to be more careful on the ball. The first 15 minutes we were really sloppy”
“We have to stop making mistakes in the first 20 minutes, it is time to be ruthless this year and do absolutely everything to get positive results”
The second half was one of the Bees’ best showings of pre-season as they took the game to the Gunners.
After previously coming back against Crystal Palace from two goals down, Barham was keen to emphasise the team’s never say die attitude.
“I think this season the boys are much more together, as a team and a collective we are much stronger this year”
“Darren has put a togetherness in the squad and I think going forward we are going to give this season a really good go”
Barham was once again on the scoresheet as he cooly slotted home his second-half penalty, despite also scoring against Palace, the striker is demanding much more from himself.
“Obviously last season was my first time in full-time football, so I want to have a really good season this year”
“I am happy to have scored a couple of goals, but I should have had a few more, I want to set my standards really high. I am not messing around this year, I want to score goals and take my game to the next level.”
The next time the Bees take to the pitch at The Hive, it will be the real deal as the National League season kicks off against Yeovil Town (Saturday, August 3rd).
Barham made it very clear that the backing of the Bee army would be crucial to the overall success of the Club this campaign.
“This season it is important everyone gets behind us, the more people who are here to edge us on the better”
“They can really push you on if we need a goal in the last 20 minutes. I have a really good feeling that this season is a big one for us”
