A GOAL THREE MINUTES FROM TIME BY Ismail Yakubu was enough to secure an important victory for Barnet, the Nationwide Conference leaders, in a fractious, scrappy, but entertaining encounter at Underhill. The victory was made all the more sweet for Paul Fairclough, the manager, after the doubts raised about his team’s championship credentials by his opposite number after the Boxing Day defeat at Broadhall Way.

Fairclough was forced to field an inexperienced team in front of the Sky TV cameras, with Ian Hendon, Liam Hatch and Dwayne Lee missing through suspension. But Barnet made light work of the absentees to see off the determined challenge of in-form Stevenage Borough and allow them to extend their lead at the head of the table to 13 points. “It was a big performance today — not one of our best but important nonetheless, ” Fairclough said.

“It has been a difficult week, the build-up has been hyped up a bit and we’ve had a lot of problems before the game with injuries and suspensions, so it has been a remarkable achievement. It was a tight game and we have shown tremendous mental strength.

“It has been a test after losing two games, but we have responded well and passed the test. It was a terrific response from what was a very young team. Although Stevenage played well, it’s all about what you do in both penalty boxes, how you stop goals from going in and the way you put the goals in.”

While their play may have lacked the fluidity that characterised their early season dominance, Barnet had the predatory instinct of Giuliano Grazioli to fall back on and the top goalscorer in the Conference did not let them down. On 33 minutes, the striker, who can count Stevenage among his former clubs, latched on to a long through-pass from Simon Clist that eluded Jason Goodliffe, the centre back, and lobbed the ball over the advancing Andy Woodman into the net.

It was Barnet’s first significant chance of the afternoon and the league leaders could count themselves fortunate not to have fallen behind early on as the visiting team continued their dominance from the Boxing Day fixture. The best chance of the first half fell to Dino Maamria, whose diving header from a cross by George Boyd was cleared off the line by Clist.

Stevenage wasted no time in restoring parity in the second half, Simon Weatherstone sidefooting home from close range after good work from Brian Quailey on the byline. From then on, neither team managed to establish any control and the game looked to be petering out into a draw until Yakubu arrived at the far post to meet a corner from Nicky Bailey.

Barnet (4-4-2): S Tynan — D Batt, I Yakubu, S King (sub: T Champion, 46min), S Clist — N Bailey, G Lopez (sub: R Graham, 67), D Sinclair, B Strevens — L Roache (sub: W McBean, 84), G Grazioli. Substitutes not used: S Gore, A Riley. Booked: Champion. NEXT: Woking (a). FORM: WWLL WW

Stevenage Borough (4-4-2): A Woodman — M Rogers, R Quinn (sub: J Hunter, 89), J Goodliffe, J Gregory — J Brady, D Bulman, S Weatherstone, G Boyd — A Elding, D Maamria (sub: B Quailey, 36). Substitutes not used: M Warner, M Hocking, L Farrow. Booked: Quinn, Boyd, Brady. NEXT: York City (h). FORM: LDWWWL

Referee: G Sutton

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