On This Day – 20th August
Charismatic manager Barry Fry had won the Conference title with Barnet in the 1990/91 season. Barnet won their opening game in the Football League the following season in an incredible game that ended 7-4 against Crewe Alexandra. Three days later they faced Brentford of the Third Division in the League Cup. It was on this day that the two sides faced each other in yet another high-scoring match.
Just 17 miles separated the two club’s grounds, so it was somewhat of a local derby between Barnet and Brentford. Over 5,000 fans had gone to the match against Crewe on the Satuday but surprisingly, there were 2500 fewer fans at Underhill that night for the visit of Third Division Brentford.
Nicky Evans broke the deadlock with a far post header (the first time I’ve included that in an article!) before Richard Cadete equalised with another header.
Cadete added a second to give Brentford the lead with a neat turn at the edge of the box before out-muscling his marker and firing in a low shot. Mark Carter then equalised for the home side to make the score 2-2 at half time.
Nicky Evans added his second of the game with a casual first time shot from a cross from the right wing before Gary Bull raced through to double Barnet’s advantage.
Kevin Godfrey made it 4-3 with a header after Barnet were unable to clear their lines from a corner. The home side then scored from a corner of their own, courtesy of their star striker Gary Bull.
With the score now at 5-3, Brentford had a job on their hands to avoid a cup upset. Dean Holdsworth, who would later go on to make his name in the top flight with Wimbledon and Bolton Wanderers, saved their blushes by adding two late goals.
Brentford won the second leg 3-1 in front of their home fans at Griffin Park. If any Barnet fan thought that the 5-5 draw with Brentford was to be the last high scoring game, they were much mistaken.
A 6-0 away win at Lincoln City followed a fortnight later and there were also 5-1, 4-2, 4-1 and 4-0 wins. They also lost 4-2 and 5-2 in the league and they would score three goals in nine separate matches. Over the course of their 46 matches in the league, none of them ended goalless.
Barnet ended the season in seventh position in the Fourth Division, taking the fourth and final play off place. They won the first leg of their play off semi 1-against Blackpool in front of the biggest crowd of the season at Underhill. Sadly for Fry’s boys,they lost 2-0 in the return leg at Bloomfield Road. They could take some solace that Blackpool went on to gain promotion after beating Scunthorpe United in the Final at Wembley.
Brentford had a more successful season by winning the Third Division title on the last day of the season. They were second in the table before their final game of the season, two points behind Birmingham City who occupied the top spot
Gary Blissett scored the only goal of the game for The Bees in a 1-0 victory at Peterborough United. Birmingham lost 2-0 at Stockport County and gifted Brentford the championship.
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