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Pre-Poured Pints, Not Points
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Another defeat but positive signs amidst dire officiating
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By:
Max Bygraves
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17/08/2025
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This article has been viewed 617 times.
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Hear me out, there are plenty of reasons to be cheerful.
Yes, on the face of it we end the third weekend of the season in the way many of us are wholly used to in this division. Three games, three defeats, one for and six against. However, the 1-2 reverse at home to Walsall maybe will be the day we look back on where we began to get to grips with things.
It was always going to be a tricky task in any context. Walsall managed a miraculous collapse in the second half of the last season. In January they were champions elect, twelve points clear, only to blow up and miss out on even the top 3 on the final day. Then, perhaps more gallingly, they recovered to make Wembley in the Play Offs only to lose an underwhelming final. Despite this heartache, they still have the same manager and many personnel who will be looking to go one better this time.
They’re not a side we’ve had loads to do with over the years. Last time we met was 2007 where they steamrolled us at their place en route to promotion out of this league. They brought around 800 fans who made a good bit of noise in the first half. I’ve got nothing particularly against Walsall but they really are up there for me in the top tier of nothing of interest Football League clubs.
I had the kids with me for this one, which always slightly changes the dynamic and experience. Luckily, it was an easy journey and arriving at the ground a little after 2:30, it was pleasing to see no queue out the door.
Let’s do this justice - it was a HUGE improvement on the last two home games. On Saturday morning, the following slightly tongue in cheek tweet was sent out from our account. See answers below:
Ah those Saturday morning pre-match nerves…
Will I get in before kick off this time? Yes - easily.
Will my QR code work? Yes - all 3 of us!
Will I get in and not be separated from my kids? No issues there, thankfully.
Will someone be in my seat? Not today.
Will there be a price list in the bar? YES! With genuine reductions evident!
Will the queue be impossible? Pre-pouring evident. Not much queueing experience/opportunity today but reports positive.
Oh and, will we win? Well, you can’t have it all, can you?
Now, let’s not go too wild, it’s a fairly basic list. However, did I think every aspect would be positively ticked off when leaving the house? I can’t say I did. There’s a long way to go but it’s progress.
From my point of view, entry was easy and efficient. In addition to this, very impressed to see a small merchandise stall next to the Legends’ turnstiles. Sensible opportunism. When entering the ground, the bar was calm and orderly, pints were ready for people - there was no chaos. Before heading to our seats, we had the pleasure of a quick high five and picture with Mr Bumble. The kids’ uncertainty about giant mascots seemingly now passed; happy days.
So, sitting down for the action, quite positive about everything thus far. Not a feeling that would last long. Not long at all. The clock had only just gone past the one minute mark when the visitors raced into an early lead. A quick charge down the left and a cut back that found its target despite a plethora of Barnet defenders in the box. Bitterly disappointing.
There was a reaction to this, however. With changes rung again and welcome returns for Stead and Shelton, along with Glover back in a wide role, we were straight back at Walsall for an equaliser. Ofoborh forced a reasonable save out of the keeper but the Saddlers remained in front.
The 18th minute saw an excellently observed minutes applause from both sets of fans for a Barnet youth player, Arash “AJ” Javanmardi, who tragically died this week in a motor accident at the age of just 18. A very sad loss; credit to the Walsall support for their participation in this poignant moment.
Halfway through the first period, really disaster for Barnet. A soft free kick was not defended at all, allowing Mason Hancock an easy finish to make it 0-2 to Walsall. A challenge had now become a huge mountain to climb. Again, defensively, many questions to be asked.
There was understandable frustration and disappointment in and after this moment. Fair enough. I do think some may need to have a bit of a perspective check based on vitriolic comments towards certain players who in some cases have served us consistently well for a number of years. Sarcastically joining in with the Walsall fans and singing: “we’re fucking shit,” is a dismal look, too. There are going to be challenging moments this season and some have got to deal with these better.
All hope was not lost, however, when Oli Hawkins became the man to score Barnet’s first Football League goal since May 2018. No great surprise it was a header from a corner. Based on this performance, Hawkins can be a real asset in this respect but also as a general nuisance and foil for Stead. He was deservedly man of the match. I’ll admit to a little bit of scepticism about what he can offer at this level, at his age, with his recent record on paper - but delighted for that to be misplaced if he can continue in this vein.
Half time down in the bar was also much better than last time. I didn’t go down until after the whistle but the queues were minimal and there were plenty of pre-poured drinks ready to be served. Well done. I have a horrible nagging doubt they’ll say something like, ‘due to beer wastage, we are no longer pre-pouring,’ as there were a few left over. Like with everything, let’s give it a few goes to perfect and I’m sure they can get quantities more accurate to avoid this going forward. It made for a much nicer environment in the bar, people spread out having conversations rather than several snaking lines of frustrated people. Loads of staff, too. Scenes we all love to see.
The second half was potentially defined very early in it when Nnamdi Ofoborh was given a second yellow card. It was the correct decision, clearly pulling his man back. Brennan was sympathetic to it in the moment (shaking his hand as he left the field) and in his post match. Whilst the challenge did stop an attack that could have led to a goal, for me, it was a long way out and a stupid thing to do when already booked. Going down to ten men seemed the biggest mountain to give ourselves in that scenario. Ofoborh now out of the game against his former side on Tuesday.
Walsall had obviously decided at half time they were going to shut up shop and play to hold onto the win. Maybe scarred from last year’s collapse, this conservative approach was a little surprising even when we were reduced in numbers. They didn’t venture much and seemed intent on sticking to the half time instruction, despite the contextual change.
Barnet were by far the better team for the final third of the game. There were a few moments where it looked possible, including one bouncing ball causing panic and a goalmouth scramble from which we nearly equalised. Very little clear cut though despite our endeavour.
We don’t normally go too into refereeing performances here but we can’t avoid it. Abigail Byrne, you had an absolute shocker. Oli Hawkins presumably could have only got a penalty if his head was physically removed or a limb pulled off. The amount of shirt pulling that went unpunished was an absolute scandal. She had a great view of several incidents. It became laughable eventually. I’m pretty good at keeping my cool in front of my kids at games and trying to model a bit of respect towards the officials - this was something of a challenge on this occasion. A father-son duo who will remain nameless taking it in turns to go and tell the linesman what they thought of his contribution summing up the collective mood. Completely dire officiating.
A high point of the afternoon came in the form of a substitution for the away time. Albert Adomah has somehow never played against Barnet since leaving in May 2010. Anyone of that vintage or older has enjoyed watching his career since and as our social media posts had indicated in the days leading up to the game, his return was a big deal.
He merely gave a hand of acknowledgment on entering the field as several fans got to the feet to give the simply but effective: “ALBERT! ALBERT! ALBERT!” chant a first ever airing at The Hive.
I did read a few things on both the forum and social media this week of some fans criticising us acknowledging former players during the game (Kabamba last week, too). I will make absolutely no apology for enthusiastically giving both of these former Barnet men a cheer, and doing it whenever feels right.
There was one message about it showing us as being ‘soft,’ and suggestions about football being more tribal than this. On the latter point, I’m all for tribalism and rivalry. I like there being a bit of needle and animosity but you can absolutely have it both ways in a scenario like this. Albert Adomah is a Barnet legend. I was probably just a bit too old for it to be acceptable to be absolutely in love with a Barnet player when he played for us, but such was his effect, that was very much the case. We never actually got to say goodbye to Albert properly in 2010 so it was great for him to get the reception coming on, and at the end of the game yesterday.
I had definitely hyped up Albert quite a lot to my children beforehand. So much so, they asked if they could see him afterwards. Sure enough, we ended our afternoon out with a picture with him. Something nice to look back on. He was typically smiley, friendly and still the humble chap who turned up from nowhere in 2008. Someone had presented him with an old shirt of his outside the players’ exit. Before the day was out, he had this on in The Hive Bar. Legend.
Sometimes you draw in a way which leaves you feeling like you’ve won. I’m not going to exaggerate things too much here, a loss is a loss - but this was very different to the feeling of trudging away from Bromley last week. There were many positive signs in that second half. We showed our much fabled ‘character’ and it gave an indication that maybe now we are finding our feet. Brennan mentioned in his interview about getting their chests out and feeling more confident. This is a huge thing and a bit of a psychological barrier for us to now get over following this kind of start.
Two away games coming up. I can’t attend either, unfortunately, though this subsequently gives me heightened confidence we will get at least something over the next week in my absence.
Remember last year how often it was said to savour these moments. They’re only as good as they were because it’s not like that all the time. Stick with it, it’ll turn around.
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