The Bees travel to Lancashire tomorrow to face fellow League Two side Fleetwood Town in the first round of the Emirates FA Cup.
Barnet:
The Bees made the long trip to face Barrow in last week’s league action, with both sides sharing the spoils in a 2-2 draw.
Josh Gordon gave the Bluebirds the lead on ten minutes, in a first-half where the hosts were on top and the Bees couldn’t find their rhythm and created little to nothing in front of goal.
Barrow captain MJ Williams saw red six minutes before the break and Barnet were able to take advantage of having the extra man early in the second-half, with Callum Stead scoring the equaliser, before Adam Senior grabbed his second of the campaign from inside the area, turning and striking the ball powerfully into the roof of the net.
With the Bees controlling proceedings in the second 45, the hosts frustratingly found the back of the net to level the score with their only shot of the half, but with over 20 minutes still to play and despite having the ball in Barrow’s box on numerous occasions, the Bees couldn’t secure victory at the SO Legal Stadium.
Barnet in the FA Cup:
Last season, the Bees were knocked out of the competition in the first round, losing 5-3 to Exeter City in an eight-goal thriller. Dean Brennan’s side beat Chelmsford City 4-0 at home to set up the first round proper tie against the Grecians.
The Bees have reached round two on three occasions in the past five years, but most impressively reached the fourth round of the competition in the 2018/19 season, with a 3-3 draw at the Hive against Brentford setting up a replay in West London, in which the Bees bowed out in a 3-1 defeat to the then Championship side.
Barnet’s last five results:
Barrow AFC 2-2 Barnet FC
Barnet FC 3-2 Cambridge United (Vertu Trophy)
Barnet FC 0-1 Notts County
Tranmere Rovers 0-2 Barnet FC
Barnet FC 2-0 Accrington Stanley
From the dugout:
Connor Smith’s pre-match interview can be viewed HERE!
Fleetwood Town:
The Cod Army head into tomorrow’s cup tie four unbeaten in all competitions, most recently beating Accrington Stanley 2-1 on at the Highbury Stadium.
Alex Henderson gave Stanley the lead with only twelve minutes on the clock, but two second half goals, the first coming from Ryan Graydon, who set up his teammate Ched Evans for the second, made sure the Lancashire club secured three points at home, despite Graydon missing a penalty on 80 minutes which would’ve been a more comfortable score-line heading into the final stages of the game.
Fleetwood in the FA Cup:
The Cod Army’s journey in the competition last season was short-lived, losing 2-0 to League One side Reading away from home in the first round.
Fleetwood progressed to the fifth round in the 22/23 season, beating Oxford City, Ebbsfleet, Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday at the Highbury Stadium to set-up a fifth-round tie against Burnley at Turf Moor.
Fleetwood Town’s last five results:
Fleetwood Town 2-1 Accrington Stanley
Chesterfield 1-1 Fleetwood
Fleetwood Town 3-2 Harrogate Town
Fleetwood Town 4-0 Leeds United u21s (Vertu Trophy)
Cheltenham Town 2-0 Fleetwood Town
In the opposition dugout:
41-year-old Pete Wild has been on the touchline for Fleetwood since taking charge of the League Two side in December 2024.
Wild’s first coaching experience was with the Amputee football team, where he spent three years, before time in Oldham Athletics’ academy. He ended up being appointed interim manager on a couple of occasions and spent only two months in the permanent role which he was given in March 2019, before leaving Greater Manchester.
Three years at Halifax followed, with Wild leading the Shaymen to two play-off positions in the three seasons he was there, but he was unable to help the West Yorkshire club make that next jump into the football league during his stint.
The next job for Wild saw head to Cumbria, where he took recently-promoted Barrow into the next phase of their journey to become an established League Two side.
Over seven years ago, in just his third ever game in the dugout during one of his interim spells at Oldham, the Latics produced a giant killing of Premier League side Fulham in the FA Cup, so this competition is one that Wild wants his side to make memories in.
One to watch:
A player to look out for tomorrow for Fleetwood will be versatile frontman Ryan Graydon.
The 26-year-old signed for the Cod Army in the summer of 2023, for his first spell in the EFL and has since made 86 appearances and contributed to over 30 goals.
The Dublin-born forward spent the early stages of his career in the League of Ireland and made appearances in the Europa Conference League with Derry City.
With four goals and two assists to his name already this campaign, Graydon’s link-up play, dribbling ability and threat on the counter-attack makes him tricky to defend against.
Despite competition from clubs in League One, Graydon has stuck with the Cod Army, who sit 10th in League Two.
Last time the two sides met:
The two sides met in the opening game of the season at the Hive, with the visitors coming out on top in a 2-0 win.
The FA Cup saw both sides face off against each other in the first round proper, with Fleetwood winning 2-0 at the Hive in 2019.
Two fixtures in the 2012/13 season make up the four competitive fixtures between the two sides in their histories, with Mark Byrne and Luke Gambin on target in the home fixture, with a Jake Hyde goal on five not being enough, as Fleetwood emerged 2-1 winners on home soil.
COYB