Barnet manager Dean Brennan lauded his players’ professionalism as they ran out 2-0 winners at Halifax Town on Saturday to all but cement a second-placed National League finish.
The Bees, who need just a point from their final fixture to confirm their place as runners-up barring a freakish goal swing, raced into a two-goal lead inside 15 minutes thanks to strikes from talisman Danny Collinge and in-form Callum Stead.
“Fantastic performance. I think the first thing from our point of view was when we knew we weren’t going to go with Chesterfield, it was making sure we got a home tie in the semi-final place,” said Brennan.
“Congratulations to the players, the supporters, our board, and our staff. It’s a fantastic achievement to go from fifth to the top three for our club.
“We’ve done it with good, honest people and hard work on the training ground. The players have been at it to be fair to them. I said that a couple of times in interviews I’ve done before.
“And I know straight away that the first session of pre-season – if these lads are going to be honest, we’ll go to war with most teams.”
The fast start came after a tactical shift that Brennan had earmarked for this game, something about which he spoke in his post-match duties.
“We changed the way we usually play. We played the way we did against Bromley as they played through the thirds and they tried to press us,” he added.
“We wanted to come here and play more directly with the front three. [Callum] Stead, [Nicke] Kabamba, and Gats [O’Donkor] – I thought they were a handful all day. We made lots of good entries. We were physical with our play, and we managed to score from restarts.
“We had another great chance to make it three, but all in all, I thought the lads followed the game plan perfectly. Our goalkeeper made some great saves, and we defended as a team really well, which is what we’re going to need.”
The return of Collinge has come at the perfect time for Brennan, and his contributions to proceedings were not overlooked by the boss.
“Yeah, brilliant. Good flick on from the long throw, and Danny’s completed his run. I think that’s his eighth goal of the season,” he said, glowing.
“He’s a huge player for us, Danny. He’s one of our key players, and I’m delighted he’s back, and I thought it was an outstanding performance as Robert Harker was a handful, and I thought he handled him really well.”
The Bees’ regular season comes to an end when they host Kidderminster at The Hive on Saturday (12.15pm) before preparations begin for the play-offs which commence just a week later.
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