Martin Allen hails Barnet display in win over Newport

Posted Sunday, April 22, 2018 by PA

Barnet boss Martin Allen heaped praise on his side after they beat Newport 2-0 to keep alive their League Two survival hopes.

Goals either side of half-time from Shaquile Coulthirst and Ricardo Almeida Santos means the Bees are four points adrift of safety with two games remaining.

The home side took the lead in the 10th minute when Simeon Akinola played in Coulthirst, who finished from close range, before Santos headed in Ryan Watson’s corner in the 81st minute.

Allen said: “I thought we played really well. It certainly was the best performance over a full 90 minutes since I’ve started.

“We kept going right through to the very end against a decent Newport side who were challenging for the play-offs until a few weeks ago.

“We had pace, we were competitive and the players did really well.

“All we can concern ourselves about is us – our team, our players, our club and like I said when we arrived, we’ve got to make the best of it and enjoy it.

“The supporters behind the goal were really making a lot of noise. Everyone knew that Grimsby were winning which did put a dampener on the good performance but the supporters and players kept going.

“Whatever happens we want to keep giving our best and do our best for the football club and paying public.”

Opposite number Michael Flynn was a complete contrast of emotions and described Newport’s performance as the worst of his tenure.

He said: “That was the worst performance under me. I can’t handle that performance or stomach it to be honest.

“I’m trying to keep my head to be honest because if I said what I really thought then I’d get a ban for swearing.

“It’s the fans that I feel sorry for because that performance is something that I would not put up with. We prepared as usual and nobody saw that performance coming.

“We all have bad games but for me the most disappointing thing was that there was no fight.

“They’ve got to motivate themselves – they’re playing for contracts and to impress me for next season and if they don’t then they won’t be here because as I said I won’t stand for it.

“It wasn’t hard to improve in the second half but even then, there was no fight, we didn’t create anything and an awful performance.

“It was a worse performance than Mansfield away [that Newport lost 5-0] because at least we ran around there.”