Dean Brennan praises Barnet’s response to adversity in draw with Cheltenham

Barnet boss Dean Brennan praised his side’s response to adversity after they fought back from 2-1 down to maintain their unbeaten League Two start with a 2-2 draw against Cheltenham.

The Bees took the lead inside 11 minutes when Charlie Lakin slotted into the bottom-right corner to give the hosts a deserved lead.

Cheltenham equalised on the hour after capitalising on Barnet’s poor defending, with Ryan Broom scoring, before Charlie McCann put the visitors ahead four minutes later.

Barnet’s Oisin Gallagher was then fouled in the penalty area, with the referee awarding a spot-kick which Kabongo Tshimanga converted to ensure both sides shared the spoils.

“It was a brilliant game of football,” said Brennan. “We were on top and should have been 2-0 up and never did.

“What happened to my team when we made those errors, and we went 2-1 down and we fought back. That’s what we are about. We fought, we kept going and kept making entries.

“We got a penalty, just deserved and had a couple of chances. They had a good half of chances at the end so what a great game of football. Credit to Cheltenham, they forced those errors and got after us. They didn’t sit back and didn’t want the game to end. Both teams were going in the last five minutes and I really enjoyed it.

“Seven points from three games – I would have snapped your hands off at the start of the season. I’d love to keep a clean sheet and that wins you titles. Take those errors out of our game.”

Cheltenham manager Steve Cotterill was bitterly disappointed not to have won the game and criticised the referee’s performance.

The Robins have made an indifferent start to the season, picking up four points from their opening three games.

“It was a poor referee performance. Our performance as a team was good and we definitely should have won the game,” said Cotterill.

“Barnet’s penalty should have never stood and it wasn’t in the box. The referee didn’t have a clear idea of it and the linesman could have helped. It was your typical away-day performance. We ended up playing against the odds and, in my opinion, did enough to win the game.

“My only problem with my team was the first 25 minutes, when we weren’t at our best and didn’t pass enough.

“After we got going, I think we were much better. Once we got into half-time, there was more of our patterns of play coming out. I think if we got that third goal, the game would be done.

“Barnet have changed a lot from last year and have become more direct as a lot of teams come here knowing it’s a tough gig.”