Missed It

The Greens lost their second game in the space of four days at Home Park, falling behind early as Michael Nelson found room in the box to head in from a corner.

“We lost a goal from a set play early in the game”, said Derek. “One of our men lost his man and they get an early goal.

“We probably shouldn’t have given away a corner kick in the first place. We gave away two corners and a free-kick early on in the game. We know what Barnet are about and that’s something they’re very good at.”

After David Fox hit the bar shortly after the opener, referee Brett Huxtable became the centre of attention, waving away a huge penalty shout for a foul on Jake Jervis, before ignoring a claim for a foul on Yann Songo’o, allowing John Akinde to break through and double the visitors’ lead.

“We should’ve had a penalty kick,” said Derek, “with Jake Jervis turning his man. He gets wiped out. That would’ve given us a good chance to get back it back in the match.

“Then there’s probably a foul in the lead-up to the second goal on Yann Songo’o, and I’m not sure if it’s offside or not when the ball is played through. I haven’t seen the footage yet. So that makes it 2-0.

“I thought the boy had come through the back of Songo’o and fouled him. It becomes difficult after that, because they’ve got something to hold onto.”

The expected Argyle onslaught came in the second half, with substitutes Craig Tanner, Jordan Slew and Paul-Arnold Garita all coming on for defensive players to force the issue. The goal did not come, however, as Barnet’s resolute defending in numbers was partnered with the Pilgrims not taking advantage of rare breakthroughs.

“We didn’t have a choice. We just had to try and get as many attacking players on as we possibly could", said Adams. “If we had got a goal, we probably would’ve got another one, but we didn’t.

“We had a lot of the ball; we had a lot of attacking players on the pitch; we had a lot of opportunities, and we weren’t able to get the next goal in the game that would’ve maybe put them under more pressure.

“It's very frustrating, when you’ve had so much possession of the ball. We’ve had good opportunities, first and second half, and we haven’t been able to take any.

“In two games now, we’ve had opportunities to score goals. We haven’t scored in two games but we’ve plenty of good play in and around the box. We haven’t been clinical enough with our chances and that’s why we’ve failed to score.

“It’s just hard to take because you’ve put yourselves in a good position, then we don’t defend well enough againstr Grtmsby and we don’t defend well enough against Barnet. We lose two goals, and you find it very difficult to come back from that.”