Accrington Stanley 0 Barnet 2

6:46pm Saturday 19th April 2008

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It wasn't the winds of change that blew around the Fraser Eagle Stadium ahead of the visit of Barnet as Accrington Stanley suffered another home defeat.

The Reds lost 2-0 in atrocious conditions which made entertainment and enterprise in short supply and left fans with a strangely familiar feeling.

But despite the reverse, there was still a sense of relief at the final whistle as the news that Rotherham had beaten Dagenham confirmed safety for another season.

Manager John Coleman made three changes from the side that lost at Notts County, with Leam Richardson, Jay Harris and Shaun Whalley all restored to the starting line up.

But the Reds struggled with the blustery conditions in the opening minutes, and might have been behind inside seconds when Phil Edwards sold Kenny Arthur short with a backpass and the keeper could only find Albert Adomah with his clearance.

Fortunately for the home side, the highly rated winger's attempted lob flew high and wide.

The next chance fell their way, as great work from Harris down the right found Ian Craney on the edge of the box, but his right foot shot was comfortably collected by goalkeeper Lee Harrison.

The majority of the pressure was on Arthur's goal though, and after top scorer Adam Birchall fired over the Bees came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock.

After Andy Procter was penalised more then 25 yards out, winger Jason Puncheon curled in the free kick and was only denied by the left hand post.

Playing against the wind the Reds were having a hard time clearing their lines, and inevitably more chances came for the visitors.

Josh Wright fired another free kick just wide on 15 minutes before Arthur denied Adomah and Birchall.

In truth, though they were only half chances, and as the interval loomed both sides could have no real complaints with the 0-0 scoreline.

There was still time before the break for some controversy: after Harris was adjudged to have fouled Cliff Akurang in the Stanley half the midfielder raised his hands to the striker, but was as surprised as anyone to see him collapse clutching his face.

Nobody, the referee included, was taken in by Akurang's amateur dramatics and both players were rightly booked.

With the first half storm weathered, Stanley could've hoped for a better second period with the elements on their side.

For a while, that was the case as they exerted pressure on the Barnet goal and went close with a curling Robert Grant free kick, but within nine minutes they were behind.

Edwards made a great tackle to deny Birchall in the box, but the ball rebounded to the striker who crossed from the right to find midfielder Neal Bishop who headed past Arthur from the edge of the six yard box.

As so often happens, the shock provoked a response.

With 62 minutes played, Coleman's side were the width of the crossbar from an equaliser.

Harris bamboozled a Barnet player with a fine turn and played in Whalley down the right.

The number seven pulled the trigger and saw his shot ricochet off the woodwork after a deflection.

Coleman made his first change soon after, with Andy Todd introduced to provide width and drive, but most of the action was at the other end.

Arthur did well to keep out another Puncheon free kick before Adomah fired over after being put clean through.

The second Barnet goal soon came, and when it did Stanley's defensive frailties were clear to see.

With 82 minutes played the Reds failed to deal with Puncheon's right wing corner and gave Akurang the chance to hook the ball across the face of goal.

Lurking at the back post was captain Michael Leary, who had the simple job of heading home from close range.

Stanley mustered a fightback, but it was too little too late.

Six minutes from time, Todd lofted the ball into the arms of Harrison.

And just seconds later, they created another chance with Todd turning provider for Smith who scampered to the edge of the box, but Harrison comfortably smothered the debutant's toe poke.

Salt was almost rubbed into the wounds in stoppage time when Adomah found himself with a chance from a tight angle on the right side of the box, but Arthur made another good save.

The full time whistle signalled a 14th home league defeat of the campaign, but the inevitable disappointment was tempered by the news from elsewhere that confirmed safety for the Reds.