Barnet 0 v Charlton Athletic 0

The thrill of the Cup? The big crowd? The noise? The atmosphere? The end-to-end attacking football? The drama? Even the unexpected? Nope. This was a match played as if it were an early pre-season friendly in a heatwave. Flat and extremely short on tempo.


Yes, we looked solid enough and as if we were two divisions apart instead of one, save that our attacking ambitions in the first-half were virtually non-existent and having tried to up the ante in the second, we quickly nestled back into our comfort zone. By the finish, it was Barnet who were creating more of the chances and Robbie Elliot pulled off a couple of sharp saves to prevent yet another embarrassment.


It wasn't as if Parky had opted for a changed side or anything. We started as we have in recent games. Abbott replaced Joe Anyinsah at the break in what looked like a pre-planned move, but it made no difference. Having been properly demoted, I expected to see some hunger and desire from Pawel. Instead, he played like he'd just finished his Sunday dinner at his Mum's. If you read that he put a header on the bar, don't be deceived. His first touch was as poor as he has managed so far, he was slow and, frankly, Grant Basey had him in his pocket. Kyel Reid also got a late burst but he too couldn't do anything to relieve the torpor.


Other than that, it was a decent day out. Barnet seems a fairly attractive town with a decent high street and surrounding hills sprout as many trees as houses. I was reminded of Wycombe. We had a pint in the Old Mitre and should have stayed there. A 17th century Coaching Inn serving real ale. Instead we left to sample something else. The Kings Head wasn't welcoming visiting fans and was fairly empty. Normally that would tempt us to go in but we could see the next one so walked on. The Misty Moon. I think it was a Wetherspoons. A strange place which was about 20 feet wide by about two hundred long as it disappeared out the back. It had the football on so we were able to snigger as Kevin Davies opened the scoring for Bolton which made us look like Arsenal fans. Not that there was any danger of trouble in this pub as the average age of the clientele was north of 60. We left for the ground after a couple there and made for the Old Red Lion where most of the Charlton fans had plotted-up for their pre-match poison. My 80's flat-mate was there and it was good to catch-up, albeit hurriedly. He's another who didn't renew this season and was attending his second game of the season having been at the Sheffield Wednesday game last week. Not sure he'll race back after this one.