The Bees play host to Crewe Alexandra in our second home fixture of the New Year tomorrow afternoon.
Barnet are looking to make it three wins on the bounce for the first time this season after positive results away at Bristol Rovers and against Crawley Town on home soil.
Joe Kizzi was the hero at the Hive on Thursday, with one goal either side of half-time securing back-to-back victories for the Bees.
The 32-year-old got on the end of a Mark Shelton corner with just five minutes on the clock to nod home the opener and huge chances followed for Idris Kanu, who’s effort hit the post and Lee Ndlovu who couldn’t direct his one-on-one opportunity past Harry Davies in the Crawley Town net.
The home side created numerous chances to give themselves a comfortable lead in the first 45, but with the chances not taken, the Reds were able to capitalise on just the one goal deficit, with Harry McKirdy cleverly looming behind Slicker to nab the ball after the Bees’ shot-stopper rolled it out into the feet of a teammate, before the Crawley number 13 slotted into an empty net.
The second-half presented chances for both sides, but a miraculous save from Slicker to deny Louie Watson to keep the game level allowed the Bees to gain the momentum needed, and Kizzi added his second of the afternoon from a delightful Ryan Glover delivery to clinch the victory.
Barnet’s last five results:
Barnet FC 2-1 Crawley Town
Bristol Rovers 0-2 Barnet FC
Newport County 0-0 Barnet FC
Barnet FC 1-3 Salford City
Chesterfield FC 3-1 Barnet FC
Crewe Alexandra:
The Railwaymen currently sit tenth in the Sky Bet League Two fixture ahead of tomorrow’s game, one place above the Bees, but with both sides on 35 points a-piece.
Since the reverse fixture in September, Crewe have had a mixed bag of results, with six wins and losses as well as four draws and have not been able to string a run of positive results together.
The Alex ended a three-game winless drought on the turn of the new year, beating Cheltenham Town 4-1 at the Mornflake Stadium.
The scoring was opened within just 45 seconds in Cheshire, when Matus Holicek was on hand to slot home the rebound after Calum Agius’ initial shot was parried away by the Robins’ shot-stopper.
Josh March scored his first of two goals midway through the first-half, before James Connolly added a third for the hosts.
Crewe were denied a clean sheet when George Miller got a goal back on the stroke of half-time, but March’s second strike of the afternoon sealed victory for Lee Bell’s side.
The visitors had 63% of the possession throughout the 90 minutes, but Crewe were more effective with the ball in the final third and took their chances when they came.
Crewe Alexandra’s last five results:
Crewe Alexandra 4-1 Cheltenham Town
Newport County 2-0 Crewe Alexandra
Walsall 1-0 Crewe Alexandra
Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Bristol Rovers
Tranmere Rovers 1-4 Crewe Alexandra
In the opposition dugout:
With no change in management since the reverse fixture, Lee Bell has now surpassed three years in charge of the Railwaymen in December.
The Alex manager was quick to praise the returning duo of Josh March and Mickey Demetriou who returned for his side’s comfortable victory over Steve Cotterill’s Cheltenham Town, the latter having not featured since the middle of November.
Ones to watch:
With an exciting squad full of young prospective players, Crewe have a wealth of talent at their disposal.
As a side that score plenty of goals, one player who has scored eight since the teams met earlier this season is Emre Tezgel, but the young forward has been sidelined for some time with an ankle injury sustained against Bristol before Christmas.
The return of Josh March last time out will be a huge boost for the visitors, having scored 135 goals across his senior career, 81 of those coming during a four-year spell with Alvechurch in non-league.
The 28-year-old striker is one of the more senior players in the group and has been a mainstay in the forward line despite a few short injuries.
March can be described as a ‘poacher in the box’ and is aggressive and fast in the final third, making it tricky for opponents to completely mark him out a game.
Last time the two sides met:
Cieran Slicker penalty heroics helped the Bees to take the three points against Crewe earlier in the season, when the sides met for the first time since 2018.
Following a goalless first 45, Tommi O’Reilly’s strike from outside the area gave the home side the lead ten minutes into the second-half.
Their lead was short lived when Lee Ndlovu scored from close-range to level proceedings.
Slicker was faced with two Crewe spot-kicks inside ten minutes and saved both to keep the Bees in the game, before Ryan Glover scored his first EFL goal late on in the game to secure victory on the road for the Bees.
COYB