Since my last entry, plenty has gone on, both good and bad. After the heartbreak of Chesterfield and disappointment of Gateshead, came a home against Oldham and an away game at the noisy neighbours, Wealdstone. These were inarguably winnable games and I hoped for six points to recover our title charge that had been taken such a hit against the Spireites and the Heed.
Unfortunately, this dream did not materialize. Against Oldham, we were criminally bad defensively and poor offensively. It was an uncharacteristically bad performance and one whereby I sat in my seat and wondered whether we were destined to exist in non-league forever. The dreaminess of Woking, Altrincham at home, Dorking away felt a long way away as Hallam Hope raced away and scored Oldham’s 4th of a 4-1 victory.
We defended in a way that was resemblant of our relegation season in 2017/18 and the dire misery of the Peter Beadle and Tim Flower stints. I was shocked at how bad we were, and it was a night that left many a question.
Another negative side affect of this damaging defeat was that it quashed the excitement for our visit to Grosvenor Vale, the home of Wealdstone FC. I attended this game with my dad who was unimpressed with the shoddiness of the away end and the appearance of Ruislip. He’s not the only one, this was my third visit and every time, I’ve liked it less.
Despite this, the away end was vociferous, aided by the fact that our towering center-half, Jerome Okimo put us 1-0 up early on and sparked joy in the away end. Unfortunately, it was brief as our old nemesis of defending failed to be effective and Jack Cook was left unmarked to finish from a corner. It was frustrating and typical of our form at that time.
Nicke Kabamba however scored again and once again, we were all dreaming of a form-restoring win at the swamp. But once again, Cook scored to equalize and from then on, it was utterly grim. We offered very little and fell victim to a last-gasp sucker punch. This prompted a mass exodus from the away end, which was full of anger, fury and upset. A horrible way to end a horrible run.
Thankfully, this preceded a break from league football and a run of cup fixtures starting in South Wales with a second-round FA Cup tie away at Newport County. I did not attend this fixture but followed it attentively on my phone en route to a family gathering. I was mightily relieved when the notification came through that Danny Collinge had scored to make the game 1-1 and sent it to a replay. This was a good show of fight and character, something so intrinsic to this group of players.
The following week came one of those games you get in non-league whereby inherently it seems a bit pointless, but you play it and get on with it. I am of course referring to our third-round FA Trophy tie vs Maidstone United. We won 4-0 and Kabamba scored a hat trick. We’re truly lucky to have him, what a glorious footballer. Love him to bits.
The following Tuesday, we hosted Newport County in the replay of our second round replay and it’s an understatement that it didn’t go to plan. We found ourselves 2 down after 13 minutes after some horrific defending and from that moment, it was game over. It was a chastening night and one whereby we rued not beating them in the first game.
The Saturday after was Ebbsfleet United away. I met some mates in Kings Cross and had a lovely lunch before heading the short distance to Kent. Ebbsfleet is an interesting place in that it appeared that there wasn’t anything there beyond a car park, a train station, and a middling football team.
I took my place on the uncovered terrace and readied myself for what was to come. The game matched the town; grim, unexciting, and reflective of our dip in form. We huffed and puffed without any real threat and once again, looked vulnerable defensively. I and the other few hundred Bees fans In the away end departed the Kufflink stadium worried, confused, and annoyed.
The fact that we’ve spent 6 years in the National League means that any dropped points feels ominous and means you start catastrophizing that its going to be even longer till we reach the promised land of the Football League.
But little did we know what awaited us on Saturday 23rd December when we hosted Boreham Wood. This game was utterly joyous; we were superb and thrashed them 6-0. It was 3-0 at half time with Kabamba having helped himself to two goals.
The feeling of the game essentially being over at half time was a new one but one I could very much get used to. We helped ourselves to three more goals and it was a day the club and us fans very much needed.
The game featured yet another Kabamba hat-trick; what a player he is as well as another superlative performance from Reece Hall-Johnson.
If B Wood at home was about flair and style, then Southend away on Boxing Day was about grit and guts. They had received news that their takeover was imminent and therefore were buoyant.
This coupled with a ticket fiasco before the game gave it some extra spice. Our aforementioned right-back, Reece-Hall Johnson gave us the lead after 4 minutes and then our midfield maestro, Harry Pritchard doubled our lead with a calm penalty on 73 minutes. We were dogged, gritty and showed character aplenty. It has since gone down as my favourite win of the season.
The scenes in the away end were special after Pritchard’s penalty; singing Barnet chants to the tune of ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’, ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ amongst others was particularly fun and was a reminder of just how fun this season has been and how much I love this football club.
One of the quirks of festive football is that you often end up playing the same team twice so on Saturday 30th December, we played Southend again, this time at the Hive. Like the first game, this one was tight, tense, and nerve-wracking. It was settled by a header from our class center-half, Adebola Oluwo in the 84th minute sparking scenes of both joy and relief in the well-populated home end.
This gave us a 9 point Christmas and after a tough period pre-Christmas, it was exactly what we needed. To win three games in a row without conceding a goal, having not won in the league since October was seriously impressive and once again reinforced our position as one of the best sides in the league.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and on Saturday 6th January, we ventured up north to Altrincham, a very pleasant town and lost 3-2 to a resurgent Altrincham side.
It started in the worst possible way, conceding after one minute and failed to improve despite a late rally from 3-0 down. As I stood on another roofless terrace in the Mancunian cold, I once again pondered the direction of our season as we looked unlike our usual selves and a shadow of the side that thrashed Boreham Wood 6-0.
Unfortunately, the issue of inconsistency has plagued us all season and it must improve. But we at least showed some fight to attempt to salvage a point and it was another fun day out following the Bees despite the result.
We then hosted Dagenham and Redbridge the following Tuesday in the bitter cold and when we went 1 nil down after some comical defending, I feared our season was unravelling quickly.
However our scoring supremo equalized on the stroke of half time and our first half was salvaged. The passage of play whereby we refused to clear the ball was painful to watch. When’s Danny Collinge back?
Despite it not being pretty, we won 2-1 and Zak Brunt got a much-needed goal that turned out to be the winner. Stodgy yes but we won and if we get promoted playing stodgy football, I won’t care one jot.
Our quest to reach the arch in the FA Trophy continued last Saturday when we beat Radcliffe away from 2-1 with yet another comeback victory. The return of Marvin Armstrong who scored our two goals was particularly pleasing.
Despite a pre-Christmas wobble, we are in a good place overall. Tough games lie ahead with Chesterfield, Oldham, and Gateshead in one week, but this squad’s got the mettle. The title may be gone but second place is up for grabs and that’s definitely worth fighting for.
I’m loving the season so far and am excited to see where it leads. Make us dream lads,
You Bees x
N Rowland Sports Writer 
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