Barnet's promotion push suffered a significant setback with a 3-1 home defeat to Swindon Town on Tuesday night. The loss at The Hive Stadium means Dean Brennan's side are now second in League Two, one point behind leaders Salford City with 21 points from nine games, having recorded six wins and three draws from their nine matches so far. Swindon Town, meanwhile, climb to ninth with 17 points.
Swindon Town dominated from the start and took the lead after eight minutes through Mitchell Clark, who finished from close range. Aaron Drinan then scored twice in quick succession, netting in the 35th and 37th minutes to put the visitors in complete control. Barnet managed a late consolation in the 90th minute when top scorer Kabongo Tshimanga, who now has 16 goals this season, found the net from a Charlie Lakin assist.
Match details
The statistics reflected Swindon's overwhelming superiority, with the visitors enjoying 72% possession and registering 22 shots to Barnet's 11. Barnet lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with M. Cox in goal, while Swindon operated with a 3-4-2-1 shape under manager Ian Holloway. Brennan made a series of second-half changes, introducing Tom Knowles, Jake Reeves and Damola Ajayi, but his side could not mount a sustained comeback. Swindon's Paul Glatzel also hit the post in the second half.
The result ends a strong recent run for Barnet, whose form over the last five matches had been three wins, one draw and one loss. This sequence included a 2-1 victory at Tranmere on Saturday 17 October, where Tshimanga scored twice, and a 3-1 win at Bristol Rovers on Saturday 10 October. They had previously drawn 0-0 at AFC Wimbledon and beaten Fleetwood Town 3-1 at home. Their overall record this season shows 22 goals scored and 12 conceded, giving them a goal difference of plus ten. Attention now turns to Saturday's home fixture against 19th-placed Oldham Athletic on Saturday 24 October, a match Barnet will be targeting to get their title challenge back on track. The full fixtures list shows a busy period ahead for the Bees, with matches against Crewe Alexandra and Bradford City to follow in quick succession.
