The Bees are on the road tomorrow as they travel to face Oldham Athletic in a 12:30pm kick-off at Boundary Park.
Barnet:
The Bees recorded their first home win of the season on Saturday over David Artell’s Grimsby Town in emphatic style, with three goals and a clean sheet.
A brace from Nnamdi Ofoborh with a Lee Ndlovu strike sandwiched inbetween earned the Bees a well-deserved three points on home soil.
A tie controlled largely by the Bees, with 19 total shots on goal and 46 touches in the opposition’s box, saw Dean Brennan’s side record an important victory in front of home support, sending a large Mariners’ following back up North with nothing.
Ofoborh’s first goal came on the stroke of half-time, with the ball falling to his feet from a Mark Shelton corner, and the unmarked number 28 was able to find the back of the net.
A heavy touch from Grimsby’s George McEachran at the back allowed Kanu to capitalise on the Mariners’ mistake and feed through Ndlovu who tapped it in from close-range for the Bees’ second of the afternoon.
Ofoborh’s second was the sweetest strike of them all. The ball found it’s way to the 25-year-old’s feet from a corner and he looked up and struck it into the right-hand side of the net past Christy Pym’s reach.
Idris Kanu was yet again a nuisance for the opposition, with his offensive and defensive attributes making him tricky to come up against. Our number eleven won four ariel duels, played five key passes and delivered a number of inviting balls into the box throughout the 90, setting up Ndlovu for his goal from close-range.
The Bees head into tomorrow’s game looking to secure their fourth straight win away from home.
Barnet’s last five results:
Barnet FC 3-0 Grimsby Town
Crewe Alexandra 1-2 Barnet FC
Barnet FC 1-3 Shrewsbury Town
Luton Town 4-1 Barnet FC (Vertu Trophy)
Barnet FC 1-1 Colchester
From the dugout:
Connor Smith’s pre-match interview can be viewed HERE!
Oldham Athletic:
The Latics came up from the National League via the play-offs at the end of the 2024/25 campaign and currently sit 11th in the Sky Bet League Two table, with three wins, four draws and two losses following the conclusion of matchday nine.
The Greater Manchester outfit are currently on a three-game unbeaten run, which includes three clean sheets, with two positive results on the road and a 1-0 win against Bromley on home soil.
The club’s most recent result was a 3-0 win at the EV Charger Points Stadium against a Cheltenham Town side who sit bottom of the table after a struggling start to the campaign.
Will Sutton gave the visitors the lead in the first-half, before Luke Hannant added a second from the penalty spot and Joe Quigley rounding off the victory in the 90th minute; a result which saw the Robins part ways with manager Michael Flynn.
Oldham Athletic’s last five results:
Cheltenham Town 0-3 Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic 1-0 Bromley
Cambridge United 0-1 Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic 0-1 Gillingham
Oldham Athletic 1-5 Manchester City u21s (Vertu Trophy)
In the opposition dugout:
The Latics are coached by 53-year-old Micky Mellon, who’s been in charge of the club since October 2023.
The Scotsman’s first managerial spell saw him spend four years with Fleetwood Town, where he led the Lancashire club to the EFL for the first time in their history, winning the 2011/12 conference title.
Mellon has since gone on to win five other promotions, with Shrewsbury Town, back-to-back with Tranmere Rovers and the latest being Oldham.
Ones to watch:
Tom Conlon has been a stand-out for the Latics so far this campaign. The Oldham skipper joined the club in January 2024 and has since gone on to make over 60 appearances, taking his career total to over 300, including 55+ goal contributions.
Passing is a key attribute of Conlon’s and the 29-year-old is also strong in the area and a threat from set-pieces, with his two assists so far coming from set-piece situations.
With five clean sheets after nine matchdays and only five goals conceded, shot-stopper Mathew Hudson is also one to look out for tomorrow.
The 27-year-old joined Oldham in December 2022 and signed a new three-year deal in June.
Last time these two sides met:
The last time the two sides met was in the National League last season, with Barnet securing four points out of a possible six from both fixtures.
The fixture at the Hive ended in a 0-0 stalemate in November, with second-half goals from Zak Brunt, Callum Stead and Adebola Oluwo giving the Bees three points on the road and maintaining a six-point gap at the top of the National League.
COYB