Hive Conversion

The boss watched his side fall to a first defeat in seven games, drawing a blank at The Hive despite having plenty of the ball and attacking intent. Barnet did their damage in the 13th minute, as the diminutive Mauro Vilhete wriggled free of any marker and guided a header from a corner and looped a header into Luke McCormick’s goal.

“They’ve scored from a set play where we haven’t man marked properly and they’ve been able to get the first goal,” said Derek.

“He wasn’t picked up well enough on the occasion. He got away and was able to get his head onto it and into the back of the net.”

The contest was a very open contest from that point onwards. As the Greens pushed forward to find a response, gaps emerged at the back, and McCormick was on hand on a number of occasions to keep Barnet’s lead at one. Derek’s side had chances of their own, including a clear-cut opening for Gary Miller late on, but were uncharacteristically wasteful in front of goal. 

“We had to go at them,” said Adams.“We had to play with a lot of forward momentum. We were able to get into more advanced areas. It looked good. We were going to leave it open at the back and that was the case. 

"We had a lot of the ball in the second half. We crossed the ball more times than we probably should’ve, because they’ve got big, tall defenders who dealt with the crosses. At the end, Gary has a great chance at the back post, and we probably should draw the game.

“We haven’t been clinical enough when the ball has come into that six-yard box. Many times today, we’ve chosen the wrong option.”

That indecisiveness at key moments saw another helpful run (and another stint atop the Sky Bet League two table) come to an end for Argyle. Derek was not looking to make excuses for his side, who remain inside the promotion places and just a point off of top spot.

“We had a lot of good play – we probably had the majority of play in the game,” said Adams. “We didn’t deserve to lose the match, but that’s just the way it is. 

“They’ve had chances, we’ve had opportunities as well, and they’ve gone in and won the game 1-0. I could stand here and say a lot of things, but we’ve lost the game.”