Barnet 2 Raging Fever 2

George Dugdale

A late equaliser denied Raging Fever a battling victory against a strong Barnet side. John Matthews and Dickon Ceadel netted in the second half as Fever fought back from a goal down to lead, before a captain's strike ensured the game finished on level terms.

Barnet play their games at the club's ever-expanding training complex at The Hive and have always had one of the stronger sides on the Fever fixture list. The visitors were defeated 7-4 on their last visit and were keen to gain some revenge on a perfect pitch, which lies a sliced clearance away from Barnet's new stadium. So keen, in fact, that the referee was forced to enquire why the Oxford side only had a squad of nine only five minutes before the scheduled kick-off.

Barnet's new stadium at The Hive

When the stragglers arrived, Fever were forced to fight hard to repel wind-assisted Barnet attacks. The Bees have a very strong midfield and Fever struggled to get a grip of the game as the hosts stroked the ball around the midfield.

Paul Soper flung himself to the left to deny a powerful header from a corner, before Andy Clyde cleared a wayward defensive header off the line to maintain parity.

Fever were breaking forward on occasion but Barnet's early dominance paid off as a purple-shirted central-midfielder reacted first to volley a loose ball past the helpless Soper. A fine strike and one which Fever's defence could do little to prevent.

Barnet's formation was flexible and provided an extra man in the midfield for large periods of the first half as Fever were forced to work hard to prevent the hosts from pulling clear. The front pair pulled together for the team to close down the deep-lying playmaker and the defence began to get to grips with the blustery conditions. In midfield, Dickon Ceadel began to win his 50/50 tackles and the game was suddenly a real contest.

John Matthews sprung the offside trap to fire narrowly wide before the referee, who had decided to call all offside decisions without linesmen as well as worry about the middle of the field, blew for half-time.

The opportunity to organise seemingly paid off and Fever became far more competitive in the second half. Shape was maintained as Barnet's defenders were allowed time on the ball at the back, before Fever pressed the ball in their own half to spring counter-attacks. From one such break, Matthews teed up George Dugdale whose left-footed curler was palmed around the post by the Barnet goalkeeper. In a less intentional effort, Pat Wehmeier's long-throw looped against a post, deceiving all Fever players as it rebounded to safety.

Rob Muskett struck a post with the outside of his right foot and curled wide of the far post before the equaliser came. James Longshaw discovered his 'other foot' to curl a lovely ball up the line and as Muskett twisted past his marker, he was tripped just inside the penalty area. It's always a confidence boost when the opposition goalkeeper asks his team-mates if anybody wants to swap before the penalty and Matthews calmly stroked the ball home to level.

Fever were suddenly flying and Barnet had to be alert to clear a number of Fever corners before the visitors silenced the visitors. Matthews kept the ball in on the byline with a backheel and when Alasdair Cowie-Fraser fired the loose ball into the box, Ceadel was on hand to slam the ball past a stranded Barnet goalkeeper. Fever goals are rarely celebrated with too much volume. This one was.

The men in yellow looked as if they could hold on as Barnet spurned opportunities in the dying stages with Nicky Pear marshalling the defence, but were caught out for pace to allow Barnet's captain to slide the ball past Soper.

There was still time for Fever to almost steal the points. A wind-assisted Dugdale corner cannoned back off the crossbar as Fever went all Adam Murray in pursuit of victory, before the referee nearly gifted the visitors the win.

His perfect positioning prevented Barnet from passing out from defence and the ball fell perfectly for Nick Wehmeier to race through on goal. The striker beat the goalkeeper but was denied by the recovery run of a defender. He remained composed to volley the ball across the face of the goal, only for Matthews to slice his finish wide from close-range at the death.

Fever games are rarely of a high-quality from both sides, but this game couldn't have been further away from the kick-and-hope game at Wycombe seven days earlier. Barnet dominated possession, but Fever came very close to executing an actual footballing game-plan. If the performance is close to that level when Fever play Northampton, a victory should follow.

Raging Fever: Paul Soper, Andy Clyde, Pat Wehmeier, Nicky Pear, Geoff Carter, Nick Wehmeier, George Dugdale, Dickon Ceadel, James Longshaw, Rob Muskett, John Matthews, Alasdair Cowie-Fraser.

Goals: Matthews (pen), Ceadel.