CONFERENCE: Weekend Round-Up
Barnet maintained their 17-point lead at the top of the Nationwide Conference despite being held to a draw at Burton Albion on Saturday. Darren Stride volleyed a last-minute equalizer for The Brewers after Lee Roache had put The Bees ahead five minutes before the break.
Barnet boss Paul Fairclough admitted his disappointment at not having held on for another victory, which he felt their efforts merited.
"It was another outstanding performance from the team," said Fairclough. "We dominated every area of the pitch. An away point is good. It is just cruel that we did not get all three points, which we deserved."
It was also a late goal that ensured Carlisle did not slip further behind the Conference leaders as they earned a point at the McCain Stadium thanks to Chris Lumsdon's 87th-minute effort. Scarborough> led from the 37th minute through Mark Hotte's header, but the Cumbrians pressed hard for an equalizer and finally got their reward as Lumsdon found the target after Andy Preece's knock-down.
Crawley Town are the latest team to occupy the ever-changing third place, following their 2-1 win over fellow Conference newcomers Canvey Island. Last season's Southern League champions scored twice in the last five minutes to snatch victory at the Broadfield Stadium, after Canvey had taken an early lead through Lee Boylan. Sasha Opinel leveled for the home side in the 85th minute and substitute Maurice Harkin converted a last-minute penalty, after Steve Ward's foul on Paul Armstrong, to clinch an unlikely win for Crawley.
Manager Francis Vines admitted afterwards: "They were unlucky to lose. A draw would have been a fair result but in the last five minutes we really had the bit between our teeth."
And despite climbing to within a point of second-placed Carlisle to put themselves firmly in contention for promotion, the Town boss was relieved his side had reached a total - 45 points - that he believes secures their place in the Conference.
"We're safe - we can breathe easy now," Vines declared. "If we get relegated from here they can sack me! Now we reset our target for 60 points to get in the top half and see where we go from there."
Hereford maintained their promotion hopes with a 2-0 win at Aldershot on Sunday as the home side missed their chance to climb to second. An own goal by Brett Johnson just after the hour and a last-minute effort from David Brown secured the three points for the Bulls, who remain in sixth position, now just a point behind the Shots.
Woking are well in the hunt for a play-off place after their hard-fought victory over Tamworth. The Cards punished the Lambs for failing to take their chances as Luke Oliver and Justin Richards scored early in the second half, with David Bampton netting a late consolation for the visitors.
Having recently been third in the table, Exeter kept themselves in touch with the chasing pack as they scored a goal in each half to beat relegation fighters Forest Green. Jake Edwards and Dean Moxey were on target for the Grecians, who impressed manager Alex Inglethorpe with their confident display at St James' Park.
"I think that's probably as well as we've played down here. We passed the ball really well and we looked defensively solid," he said. "I just thought the performance as a whole was a very professional one - we played as I would like us to play."
Stevenage are still in touch with the top six as Darryn Stamp made his mark on his debut for with the first two goals in their 3-1 win over Farnborough. The former Chester City striker, signed on a free last week, scored in the 12th and 34th minutes, with Dannie Bulman adding the third for the home side five minutes into the second half. Robert Traynor's 20-yarder proved nothing more than a consolation for the visitors, who had Jimmy Turner sent off in stoppage time.
Morecambe are another side on the fringe of the play-offs following their 2-1 win over fellow promotion hopefuls Halifax, who, like Aldershot, missed their chance to go second. Michael Twiss took his tally for the season to 12 with his 73rd-minute goal and a last-minute penalty, which was followed by Craig Midgeley's injury-time spot-kick for the Shaymen.
Despite being in 13th position, Dagenham & Redbridge are not out of contention for the play-offs, and did their chances no harm at all with a convincing 5-0 win over managerless Gravesend & Northfleet. Tony Boot started and finished the scoring, with Steven Clark, Chris Moore and Jake Leberl all finding the net in-between.
Fleet utility player Lee Protheroe admitted afterwards that they were "absolutely gutted" by the defeat, which came just days after Andy Ford's departure from the club.
"To say it was disappointing was a bit of an understatement," he said. "We had confidence beforehand, but things went from bad to worse - we gave away a sloppy goal after half-an-hour when our two centre-halves collided. We were told at half-time to keep our shape, but as we chased the game, gaps just opened up behind us."
York City's recent revival continued with a 3-0 win over bottom club Leigh RMI, despite being reduced to ten men for the last half hour of the match. Darren Dunning's dismissal must have given the home side hope that they could break the deadlock, but it was York who seemed to be strengthened by the loss of a player as Andy Bishop fired in a free-kick five minutes later and Lee Nogan made it 2-0 shortly afterwards. Bishop grabbed his second goal of the game in the final minute to put some breathing space between the Minstermen and the bottom four. It now seems an impossible task for Leigh to stay up however, as they are 12 points adrift at the bottom, and a further five away from a position of potential safety.
There was some good news for Leigh however, as they were presented with a £400,000 cheque by Manchester City star Shaun Wright Philips before the game. The grant, awarded by the Football Stadia Improvement Fund (FSIF), will go toward the development cost of the a new purpose built stadium, which will become the centrepiece of a major community sports complex, the 'Leigh Sports Village'. The stadium, to be situated in the Pennington area of the town, will meet Football League standards and construction is due to commence in the spring with the completion anticipated during 2007.
