Two late goals helped Bower Cup champions Brent to subdue a spirited Brent side, who were unable to end the season on a winning note.
Barnet had more possession in the opening moments and had an early shot at goal but it was Brent who took a third minute lead through Felix Amoah who cut inside from the left wing before scoring from 25 yards. Two minutes later from an almost identical position Amoah saw another effort clear the Barnet crossbar. Brent almost scored their second when Louie Adedeji’s cross from the left was met by Rahul Bhundia whose shot was too high.
Midway through the first half Barnet forced a couple of corners and saw an effort on goal well saved by Aamar Malik in the Brent goal. Amoah almost scored his second in the 23rd minute cleverly turning and once again seeing his effort from the edge of the Barnet penalty area clear the crossbar. Barnet almost equalised in the 25th minute from a free kick award just outside the Brent penalty area that was headed narrowly wide. In the final minute of the first half, Brent’s Dominic D’Souza was unfortunate not to score when through on goal. The prolific striker lobbed the Barnet goalkeeper but the the ball was headed off the goal line by an onrushing defender.
Barnet started the second half strongly and once again saw an early effort clear the Brent crossbar before equalising from a corner in the 41st minute. The set piece was not cleared at the near post and was diverted into the net by a Brent player. Two minutes later, Barnet almost took the lead from another corner when Malik dived at full stretch to palm the ball over the crossbar. Brent’s Mason Spencer saw an effort on goal go just wide in the 45th minute before D’Souza again went through on the Barnet goal only for his effort to go just wide of the post under a strong defensive challenge.
Amoah saw another fine effort palmed away just under the Barnet crossbar before Barnet took the lead in the 51st minute from a quick attack down the left and when the ball was crossed was tapped home from close range. Two minutes later Brent were level when Brent’s Sahr Dugba’s effort on goal was deflected behind and D’Souza’s corner kick was met by Ghellor Kreme who headed powerfully home.
Brent were level for only a couple of minutes and Barnet scored two goals in quick succession to take a 4-2 lead. Brent were very unfortunate to see another Amoah effort on the Barnet goal hit the crossbar whilst D’Souza saw a shot well saved before Brent’s Shammer Swaby scored with a dipping shot from 25 yards to make it 4-3 with 7 minutes left to play. With Brent pushing strongly for an equaliser Amoah saw a shot saved before Swaby headed wide from a corner. From a Brent free kick Swaby shot over and from the resulting goal kick Barnet broke again quickly and scored their 5th before scoring the 6th in the last minute with a shot from the edge of the Brent penalty area.