Accrington Web - Prediction League Game 20; Barnet (away)

Barnet FC

Accrington Stanley

Prediction League – Game 20; v Barnet (away)

Over the summer they shipped 14 players out of Underhill; well, when you’ve finished 21st in the League, a very sweaty 4 points above a nearly-saved Grimsby, and gone out of the FA Cup to the Stanley, you would, wouldn’t you …….. Best known among the departures were probably Ismail Yakubu (to AFC Wimbledon), Micah Hyde (to Billericay) and Paul Furlong (Kettering). New manager Mark Stimson (appointed on 1st June, having left Gillingham 3 weeks before “by mutual consent”) signed 12, plus several more on loan; they included former Prawn Sandwich League striker Steve Kabba (ex Palace, Watford, and Blades) signed from Brentford, the other Bees becoming his 10th club (including Blackpool and Oldham) in a career going back to 1999; 35 year old striker Kevin Gallen (who seems to have played for everybody, but actually spent most of his career at QPR) joined on loan; England ‘C’ international midfielder Glenn Southam arrived from Histon; and defender Anwar Uddin who captained Dagenham to League One, then left to join Barnet (where he’s also captain).

Managed at various times by Alan Mullery, Martin Allen, Barry Fry, Tony Cottee and Ray Clemence, Barnet won the Conference in 1991; their first two matches resulted in a 7-4 defeat by Crewe and a 5-5 draw against Brentford in the League Cup …….. Ten years later they went back down to non-league football, winning the Conference once again in 2004/5 (accompanied by Carlisle, who beat Stevenage Borough 1-0 in the Play-off Final, and who promptly got promoted again the next season). They haven’t troubled the scorers since, though, their best result being a 12th place finish in 2007/8.

We’ve met 10 times since we came back up the year after them; 8 in the League, and two in the cup. Our first victory back in League 2 :D was against them, on 12th August 2006 (2-1, with our goals both scored by Romy Boco); we did the double, what’s more, winning 2-1 away as well that season. 2007/8 and 2008/9 weren’t too clever – drawing one and losing the other both seasons – but last year was much better; we played them at home in the FA Cup 2nd Round, and led twice, through Bobby Grant and Michael Symes; in the 5 ½ th minute of 6 ‘added time’ they scored from a very dodgy penalty, and we thought that was that; not so, as a Bobby Garnt winner won us the replay. Life got better when we then did them home and away in the League, 2-1 at Underhill (Edwards and Billy Whizz) and 1-0 at Fortress Crown (Billy again). Overall, then, P10 W5 D3 L2 F14 A12 ……………… ;)

Out of the Carling 3-0 away to Swansea in the First Round, the JPT 3-1 to Southend at home and the FA Cup 1-0 to Charlton away after a goalless draw at home (P4 W0 D1 L3 F1 A7), their season so far is a real dog; away, all they’ve got is 2 draws and 7 defeats out of 9 (9 scored, 23 conceded); the highlights (should that be ‘lowlights’?) include a 7-0 thrashing at Crewe (see above) and 2-2 and 1-1 draws at Morecambe and Torquay respectively. At home it’s a little better; 4 wins, 2 draws and 4 defeats, scoring 13 and conceding 14; they’ve beaten Cheltenham 3-1, Hereford 2-0, Macclesfield 1-0 and Northampton 4-1, drawn 0-0 with Burton and 1-1 with Bury, and lost to Rotherham 4-1, Bradford City 2-0, Stevenage 3-0 and Gillingham 2-1. Those 4 wins are the sum total of their victories all season; ‘in all competitions’ their record is P23 W4 D5 L14 Goals F23 A44; in the League they lie 23rd, 16 points from 19 games, one point above Hereford but one game more played (their was one of only two that survived today – they lost 2-1 at Oxford!)

Main goalscorers are midfielder Mark Byrne (on loan from Notts Forest), Steve Kabba and midfielder Mark Marshall (who joined from Swindon in the summer) each with 4, and Daggers loanee Phil Walsh (who signed short-term to cover when Steve Kabba was injured) with 3; no-one else has more than 1 ………

The deadline for entries is, as ever, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 11th December. We’re clearly back to form (only 1 defeat in 5); they seem to like conceding 7 goals (and we’ve got that already once this year!); close game? Scrappy win? Classy draw? Heaven forbid that we don’t get something out of this one!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck to everyone ………… and thanks for playing!

:help: