Sam Togwell was delighted after helping Barnet to a 5-0 win away at Chester on the opening day of the season, and admitted that his first appearance for the club could hardly have gone better.
Speaking after the game on Saturday, the new Bees midfielder said:
“You don’t get better than that away from home, do you? To go and score five goals and control the game the way that we did, I thought it was brilliant.
“It’s also a massive thing for us to have kept the clean sheet. It is all of our jobs, not just the defence and the keeper but the whole team, and when you see it out like that it can feel just as good as a goal.
“Pre-season is there for a purpose but you can’t beat the buzz of a matchday, playing in front of a big crowd. We were playing for everything today, for the three points, for the fans that travelled up here, and it doesn’t get any better than that on the first day of the season.”
Barnet’s pre-match preparations were limited by traffic on the motorway, but Togwell was pleased with how the squad adapted to the situation in order to come away with the win:
“Our warm-up wasn’t as long as it normally is but you’ve got to deal with the circumstances that you find yourselves in. It’s not ideal but I think that the players dealt with it really well. If we’re going to perform like that for 90 minutes then maybe we should turn up late again!”
Togwell was on the receiving end of a nasty challenge by Danny Harrison in the fourteenth minute for which the Chester midfielder saw red, a decision the Bees’ new signing felt was justified:
“We both went in for a fully committed tackle but I’ve got stud marks all the way up my leg starting from my knee so that just goes to show that he went in hard and a little high.
“I feel fine, I’ll have a war wound for a few weeks but I was able to run it off.”
Togwell was one of five players making their competitive debuts for the Bees on Saturday, and believes that the other members of the squad have all helped the new players find their feet at the club:
“We’ve all come in and the boys have all been brilliant and helped us out. We’re all experienced pros and we’ve got a lot of games in the Football League so that has helped us settle in and try and help the
younger ones.”
Now, Barnet’s new signing is looking forward to playing at The Hive for the first time this campaign on Tuesday night as Barnet look to continue their excellent start against Bristol Rovers:
“Bristol Rovers is going to be a tough game against a team who have just come down from the Football League.
“They are coming to our place and we have got to make that a fortress as much as we can this season. If we keep our standards as high as we did today there’s no reason why we can’t put in a similar performance and get another result.”
