Dean Brennan bemoans Barnet’s lack of cutting edge in draw with Cheltenham

Barnet manager Dean Brennan was disappointed with his team’s “lack of cutting edge” after a missed opportunity to climb into the play-off places as his side were held to a goalless draw at home to Cheltenham.

The result came as Brennan served the first of his nine-match touchline ban for verbally abusing a match official using references to gender.

The home side dominated throughout but Nnamdi Ofoborh, Kane Smith, and Kabongo Tshimanga all failed to convert their chances.

Cheltenham were reduced to 10 men in stoppage time when Arkell Jude-Boyd received a second yellow card for a challenge on Phillip Chinedu.

“Total dominance and not good enough in the top end of the pitch,” Brennan said. “There was a lack of penetration and cutting edge, which we had last week. I suppose that’s why we play in League Two. We’re in the fourth division for a reason.

“We were solid defensively and our phases of play were okay but not penetrative. The pitch was a bit bobbly today, whereas last week it was slick.

“Respectful of the point and know how difficult this business is. Steve Cotterill has vast experience and made a brilliant change at half-time. We were on top but never scored and that’s a huge problem.

“Let’s see where we are at the end of the season. This could be a valuable point; they could have scored late themselves. We keep progressing, staying focused and have an exciting game on Tuesday to look forward to.”

Cheltenham manager Cotterill praised his side’s “commitment” after they ended their four-game losing League Two run.

Ben Stevenson was forced off in the second half with a knee issue and was replaced by Jude-Boyd, who was later sent off.

“Brilliant commitment from the boys today,” Cotterill said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game with obstacle after obstacle. They were determined to keep a clean sheet and showed probably their biggest commitment over 90 minutes so far this season.

“This is a really tough place to come and play. With illnesses in the week and positional changes – Sam Sherring moving from back three to right-back to central midfield, it could have gone wrong but they defended really well. Sometimes you have to grind out results like this to get hard-earned points on the road.”

On Stevenson’s injury, Cotterill added: “Too early to tell the extent. It was a bad knock; we’ll see if there’s more to it.”