Barnet proved the best team in the league over the course of the season and eventually sealed a return to the Football League as champions at the end. The team looked strong from the word go and set the tone with some excellent showings in the early weeks of the season. Martin Allen had a strong and settled starting 11 from the word go, with the likes of Lee Cook, John Akinde and Charlie MacDonald adding real quality into the team. A thumping 5:0 win away at Chester on the opening day of the season provided the perfect starting block and the North London side went on to win eight of the first nine games in the season, taking the top spot in the table. While the goals were flowing, the team was looking mean and assured at the back too after getting six clean sheets in these opening eight games. There seemed to be no other team capable of standing up to Barnet in these early months and they continued to play some excellent football as the season went on. An excellent win away at Gateshead in October opened up an ominous eight-point lead at the summit and at that stage it looked like the Bees will pretty much saunter towards the title, so big was their momentum. There was the odd defeat along the way, with a last-minute 2:1 loss at Bristol Rovers leaving the manager hurting in early December, but the team kept bouncing back brilliantly and the gap at the top was maintained as the team reached the turn of the year. However, a worrying decline in form set in from January onwards and that allowed the chasing pack to cut the gap. The catalyst for that was a bruising 4:1 loss away at a mid-table Lincoln side on January 4. Amazingly, four more defeats followed in the next seven games. The security and assurance in the team’s game seemed to evaporate quickly and the excellent form of Bristol Rovers saw them leapfrog the Bees in the table by the start of March. All looked set for a nail-biting title battle between these two for the rest of the season and Allen’s men may well have wilted under the pressure. To the credit of the manager and the players, they rallied impressively and managed to find their form again at the key stage of the season. A key win at a strong side like Eastleigh restored confidence and Barnet did not let their heads drop even if they were pegged back by late goals at Alfreton and Halifax after that. It was still all very tight before the final couple of games of the season, with the team holding just a one-point lead at the summit. Yet they kept their nerve and secured the title with a 2:0 win over Gateshead. It was a deserved success for Barnet as they lead from the front for the majority of the season and played some excellent and very entertaining football at times. Akinde proved the best striker in the league while players like Curtis Weston, Luisma Villa and Mauro Vilhete came up with moments of quality in key games as well. Now the task is to build a competitive squad for the Football League next season and continue the upward progression.
