Football Conference Premier Division
BARNET 1-1 LINCOLN CITY
The Hive, Camrose Avenue, Edgware
Admission: £16 standing
Programme: £3
Attendance: 1,913
Food: None
Drink: Stowford Press Cider: £3.80
A short journey by train and tube to see Barnets new set up away from Underhill at their training base in Edgware. I got off at Queensbury for the 10 minute walk up Turner Road at the end of and to the right is the Main entrance to The Hive. There are no pubs near the ground but 2 of the many curry houses near the station did have a bar and TV on if you are desperate for a pre match beer before heading to the ground. A better option is to get off at Baker Street, or Finsbury park where there is a Wetherspoons above the cinema outside the station.
From the driveway, there is the artificial pitches to the left, behind the home terracing, where the not obvious grey painted ticket office and secondary club shop is situated. There appears already to be a brick built ticket office in the near corner underway to replace the temporary building. The Main Club Building is alongside the right touchline from where the home terracing is situated with the club offices, shop and club bar. The club bar still has a problem with service, as it took 15 minutes to be served and at one point only 2 bar staff were serving. You could order a posh burger from the food hatch if you want to pay £5-7 for the privilege. The decor is nice with sofas and plenty of screens dotted around, but standing areas were at a premium, even though no away supporters were being admitted.
Inside the ground a seated stand about 7 rows deep is bolted onto the back of the club building, with an overhang roof which would keep the back row dry. The 2 covered standing areas are identical behind each goal and about a dozen rows deep. The Main Stand looks good, with orange and black seats and a large cover. The food kiosk is next to the turnstiles and offers hot dogs and a combination of sausage, bacon & egg rolls for £3-5. They do bovril as well as Tea/Coffee. Temporary toilets are situated behind the home terrace.
This was the poorest game of football so far this season for me. The first half was dreadful, probably not helped by watering the pitch 15 minutes before kick off after only just having 24 hrs non stop rain?? The second half improved a little, and a mazy run inside the box from Marsh-Brown opened the scoring for Barnet around the hour mark, even though Lincoln had about 2/3rds of the possession and a handful of opportunities to score before going behind. Barnet were happy to see out the last 10 minutes plus 6 minutes stoppage time and were playing the keep ball in the corner. However, in the last minute of stoppage time, they conceded a free-kick where the ball found Nolan in the area to fire past Graham Stack for the last kick of the game.
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