Martin Allen admitted that his side were not at their best on Boxing Day as they beat Aldershot 3-1 at the Electrical Services Stadium, but was still delighted with the Bees’ effort and application as they moved nine points clear with another win.
Speaking after the game, the manager said:
“It was a good win. I don’t really think we played that well but I also know that Aldershot are a good team and I have seen them here on several occasions play some really good football and they have got some good players.
“Every team we play against it is going to be difficult at the beginning of the game. We have spoken about it beforehand and you have got to be careful.
“It was nothing spectacular, there was nothing outrageously brilliant. It was just a steady, disciplined unit of men doing their jobs. But over the ten months we are not going to be absolutely fully on it every game, as much you try and you want them to be.”
Barnet took the lead just before half-time through John Akinde but had their lead wiped out shortly after the interval when Jordan Roberts equalised from a corner. However, the Bees bounced straight back through Akinde before the striker wrapped up his hat-trick with an injury-time penalty.
And having seen his side take maximum points from a tricky encounter, Martin admitted that his side had showed plenty of fighting spirit in order to come away with their ninth away win of the season:
“All the things we normally do so well, we were just a little bit off the pace, sharpness and tenacity we normally have. But when those things are missing, if you have got everyone who knows what they are doing and everyone does their job in the team, then with the forwards we have got, we are always still likely to win.
“They scored from a set play but there was a tremendous response with Charlie MacDonald playing a brilliant pass through for John. He has scored us the goals that have won us the game but without a shadow of a doubt it was a team performance.
“We defend as a unit and stop the opposition having good chances at our goal. With hard work and good organisation from the training pitch, that is what happens.
“We have seen before we have got that character and resilience. But they all defended valiantly when the opposition had plenty of the ball in the second half but were able to limit their opportunities to get in behind us.”
With a second game coming up in three days against Dover on Sunday, Martin predicted that he would be making a few more changes to his line-up as he praised the togetherness of the squad:
“I promised them all they were going to play if they worked hard in training, had the right attitude and the right commitment to me, the club and the team.
“They are very friendly with each other and they are all very supportive of each other. They care about the team and the team is always the most important thing – more important than me and more important than whoever plays.
“You can see that energy between them all, you can feel it. If they are not playing they don’t get the hump. Today Luisma as the first one on the pitch today celebrating. Gambin wasn’t involved today which was unfortunate for him but he was unpacking the bus and doing the warm-up. They are all committed to our cause which is nice.
“This is a lovely day for the supporters and players. A Boxing Day win away from home is always special and now we have got to make the most of it. We play Dover now who are a good run of form so we are going to have to be right on our game and back up to top form.”
