Swindon 4-0 Barnet – Very worrying signs…

Barnet’s poor run of form continued as they were demolished 4-0 at Paulo Di Canio’s Swindon who didn’t have to get out of second gear all afternoon.

Having lost 2-0 at home to Swindon’s great rivals Oxford United on the weekend, Lawrie Sanchez made several changes to his starting line-up.

Parkes, Senda, Taylor, and Holmes were casualties in 4 changes which saw the Bees boss opt for 4 centre-backs across the back.

Barnet started the brighter of the two teams as Kabba forced a good save from Smith, while Byrne’s long throw troubled a Devera at the back.

However, Swindon soon asserted their control over the game and took the lead after 11 minutes when De Vita finished well across a flat-footed Brill.

With confidence visibly flowing throughout the Wiltshire outfit, the Robins doubled their lead 10 minutes later. Despite numerous attempts, the visitors failed to clear their lines and Matt Ritchie thundered home a drive from just inside the area.

Barnet were being run ragged by the excellent Ritchie, and cracks were beginning to show as Uddin and Fraser squared up to each other as another shot fizzed past the post before the referee intervened.

The game was effectively over as a contest in first half injury-time. Ritchie was again instrumental as his deep cross was nodded in by an unmarked Kerrouche, although Brill would have been disappointed again with his positioning and handling.

Barnet emerged from the half-time break with a full 5 minutes remaining in the interval. Standing in a circle, an discussion took place – although it looked as though argument instead of agreement was the prevailing theme.

Sanchez took his seat on the edge of the dug-out, 2 seats away from everyone else as the half resumed.

The second period saw a more determined Barnet side match a sloppy Swindon although individual errors punctured most of Barnet’s attempts of attack.

Holmes replaced Byrne on the hour as Sanchez sought to gain a foothold in the match, but once again the ex-Chelmsford man was anonymous.

On 65 minutes, Ritchie made the most of a defensive mix-up between Leach and Dennehy, before cool rounding Brill and slotting home a fourth.

With the game over, both sides looked half-

earted and the game petered out as Di Canio’s men recorded their 4th win in 5 games.

Worryingly for Barnet, this was their third consecutive poor performance. Swindon didn’t have to get out of second gear to hammer 4 past the Bees, and tactically the 4-4-2 is not working for the north London outfit.

With team spirit clearly frayed, a sense of leadership on and off the pitch non-existent, last year’s player of the season benched, and a shocking away attendance of 160, it looks like the Bees are in for a tough season ahead.