Martin Allen was pleased with his side’s battling performance on Saturday, as Barnet secured a point at third-placed Woking to extend their lead at the top of the Vanarama Conference to nine points.
Speaking after the game, the manager praised both sides as a gripping contest finished all square at 1-1:
“It was a great game. Both teams gave everything that they have got. There was a great atmosphere with both sets of supporters giving everything that they had as well. It was a bit of a derby coming just around from North London.
“Garry Hill has put together a really good team here. He has got some really good players and it is a hard place to come and play. They have just won 3-1 away to Halifax so let’s not kid ourselves; this was always going to be a tough afternoon.
“The pitch was excellent and it was a great game to watch. They pressed us, we managed to keep them out apart from one little break, and I thought that we were unlucky on a couple of other occasions not to take a bigger lead but overall I would say that it was a good performance from us and on we go now to Tuesday and Bristol Rovers.”
Barnet took the lead after just ninety seconds as an Elliott Johnson cross forced Mike Cestor to turn into his own net, something Martin did not necessarily help the cause as Woking came fighting back to equalise in the second half:
“I’m not sure the goal actually helped us to be honest. It meant that straight away with the momentum of the game they had to come out and attack us. I don’t think anybody expected us to take the lead that quickly. It was a brilliant cross in from Elliott Johnson.
“After that they put pressure on us, but we defended very well. We have got a very courageous group of players who all defended stoutly and like I said, we could have got a couple of other things go our way and we could have got a second.
“We had a couple of half chances in the second half. How that one on Charlie MacDonald is not a penalty I will never know. He was on the penalty spot going across the goal, the goalkeeper has taken him out and the ball has ended up over by the corner flag.
“I’d have loved Jack to have scored that one at the end. He has been very patient this season and not got the opportunities that perhaps he has deserved.
“But overall, it was a good performance from our players and a good performance from all of our supporters. It was a disciplined job that we have come here to do and I would say that we have done it very, very well. We never lose, we just run out of time.”
Barnet have only two days to recover before making another trip to fellow promotion chasers in Bristol Rovers on Tuesday night, and Martin finished by praising his entire squad of players as they prepare for another challenging week:
“We play on Tuesday night now. We have got through the last couple of weeks with a couple of really good players suspended. We have got them returning to our squad on Tuesday night so that will be a boost for everybody.
“The boys are very good. They are very focused and very calm. You will see in a minute that every player will leave our dressing room taking some of the equipment to the bus. We have got no kitman, we are the kitman. We just do it exactly the same week in, week out.
“They clean their own boots and they take their own gear home and wash it every day. They are a quality bunch of lads and I am very, very proud of them all.”
