Barnet finished off the regular season in style as they beat recently relegated, Kidderminster Harriers, by 4 goals to 1.
The result also confirmed a 2nd place finish for The Bees, meaning they will have home advantage next weekend in the National League play-off semi-final.
Dean Brennan made two changes to the starting XI that defeated FC Halifax Town 2-0 last Saturday, with Idris Kanu and Luke Freeman replacing Callum Stead and Gatlin O’Donkor
respectively.
The first real opportunity of the game fell to The Bees when Nicke Kabamba found himself in the penalty area, but he couldn’t guide his effort past the Kidderminster keeper.
The visitors soon responded though with an effort of their own when Seb Thompson fired over the bar after a brilliant cross from Christian Oxalade-Chamberlain.
However, the deadlock was broken by The Bees after 33 minutes when Dale Gorman found Danny Collinge from the corner, with the number 4 scoring his eighth of the campaign.
Just before the players headed in for the half-time break, Barnet doubled their lead when Ben Coker’s cross found Kabamba, who lifted his effort into the back of the net, getting his 25th of the
season.
The whistle sounded for half-time after two minutes of additional time with Barnet taking a comfortable lead into the break.
HT: Barnet FC 2-0 Kidderminster.
No changes were made at halftime by either side as the second half got underway, with The Bees starting as well as they finished the first half.
An early Bees chance turned into the 3rd goal of the game as Luke Freeman tucked away an effort from inside the penalty box on 48 minutes, scoring his first goal for the club.
As the game reached the hour mark, Kidderminster pulled one back as Charlie Weston gave something for the visitors to celebrate.
In response, Brennan made his first changes of the game when goalscorer Kabamba came off for Gatlin O’Donkor and Jerome Okimo came off for Adebola Oluwo, who made a return from injury.
The final change made by Brennan came after 71 minutes when Zak Brunt was replaced by the U18’s captain, Patrick Matejko.
As the match approached the final ten minutes, Kidderminster looked to end their season strong and had been the better of the two sides since their goal, but struggled to test Josh Keeley in net
for The Bees.
The final chance of the 90 fell to the visitors when a deflected effort cannoned off the base of Keeley’s right post but was cleared away to safety. 5 minutes of stoppage time was awarded as The Hive faithful tried their best to see the victory home.
Idris Kanu sealed all 3 points with a final goal of the regular season at The Hive with a lovely finish into the back of the net.
The full-time whistle blew, signifying the end of the match and the regular season for both these sides.
Kidderminster Harries will have to rebuild in the summer as they’ll aim to bounce back immediately into the 5th tier. As for Barnet, the hard work starts now, with everyone associated with The Bees knowing they are two wins away from promotion back to The Football League for
the first time since 2018.
FT: Barnet FC 4-1 Kidderminster Harriers
Starting XI: Keeley, Coker, Collinge, Okimo (Oluwo 62’), Gorman, Kabamba (O’Donkor 62’), Kanu,
Freeman, Hartigan, Cropper, Brunt (Matejko 71’).
Unused subs: Walker, Hall-Johnson.
Goals: Collinge 33’, Kabamba 43’, Freeman 48’, Kanu 90+5’.
Attendance: 1896 (281 away)
