What a Fantastic Afternoon, here's some highlights from the first half and the match report.
Barnet just edged an entertaining first pre-season fixture in front of a decent crowd at a scorching Vauxhall Road. Barnet come with strong Tudors connections in ex Manager Dean Brennan, who is now in charge of the Bees and had former players, Moussa Diarra, Nicke Kabamba and Laurie Walker in their starting line up. A new look Hemel gave as good as they got against their National League Premier Division opponents, especially in the first period and were slightly unfortunate to go in a goal behind after a mistake at the back let in Nicke Kabamba just before the interval. He pounced on a poor clearance before driving into the box and tucking the ball past Craig King. It was their first real chance of the game but Kabamba showed his quality in the finish. Just before Barnet had opened the scoring, Hemel’s new signing, Jordan Greenidge had brought the best out of former Tudor Laurie Walker, who did superbly well to tip his effort over the bar. Greenidge made a decent debut and looks to be a good addition to Mark Jones new look squad. Both sides made numerous changes for the second half, indeed it was two different elevens that took to the field and Barnet looked a stronger outfit in the remaining 45 minutes. That wasn’t to say the Tudors didn’t have their chances but as the game wore on, it looked as though the visitors would extend their lead and sure enough they added a second goal on 68 minutes. Hemel had actually been on the offensive but couldn’t find a finish after a goal mouth scramble and the ball was cleared to Ephron Mason-Clark down the right, he showed his pace before chipping to the back post where an unmarked Jamar Loza headed home. That was pretty much it as far as goalmouth action was concerned with the heat taking its toll on both sets of players and Barnet saw the remaining minutes out comfortably. There was a scare for Hemel in the first half when new signing Godfrey Poku limped off but it appeared to be a muscle strain rather than any problem with his troublesome knee, which manager Jones said is always going to happen when a player is returning to full fitness. Next up we are at Berkhamsted FC on Tuesday evening KO 7-45
Match report by Allan Mitchell
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