Kandol enlightens Barnet
Date published: 19 November 2006
Barnet 3 (Kandol 39, 49, 90)
Rochdale 2 (Clarke 22, Murray 59)
Rochdale succumbed to their fourth successive league defeat at the hands of Barnet at Underhill. The defensive ineptitude of both sides made for an exciting encounter but Rochdale’s defensive display was the slightly more woeful and they went down by the odd goal in five as home striker Tresor Kandol hit a hat-trick. The visitors looked to have done enough to earn a point but Kandol helped himself to the match ball, and his side to a vital three points, with a last minute winner.
Barnet’s lack of goals this season was made evident by the somewhat farcical award given to Kandol before kick-off; receiving the goal of the month award for a penalty kick. Next month Barnet fans will have more Kandol goals to choose from as he took his season’s tally to 13 in all competitions.
Seldom will a player score a simpler hat-trick than the one the Rochdale defence laid on a plate for Kandol here. The best of his goals was the first, cancelling out Darrell Clarke’s deserved opener for the visitors; superb work by Nicky Bailey created the opening as he showed a clean pair of heels to Gary Jones on the turn and then laid on a perfect pass for Kandol to graciously fire home.
This was not before the visitors had dominated the early proceedings and found themselves a goal to the good when a deep Alan Goodall cross found the goalkeeper routed to his line. Chris Dagnall rose at the far post and headed across for Clarke to stab into the net for the first goal of his loan spell.
Rochdale had chances to double their lead against a home outfit that looked distinctly nervous as they conceded possession far too easily with numerous passes going astray. Glenn Murray finally justified his place in Rochdale’s starting eleven with an improved display and he could have opened his account with his curled attempt from 20 yards, which produced a fine save from Lee Harrison.
Barnet began to get more and more into the game as the half wore on and they had done enough to deserve their equaliser by the time it arrived with 39 minutes played. Earlier Jason Puncheon had fired a wicked shot at Matthew Gilks chest. Barnet were trying to play the better football and they should have taken a lead into the interval but Simon King could not find the target with his free header from an Andy Hessenthaler free-kick.
In the first half it was the Barnet defence that looked the shakier of the two but their visiting counterparts stole the limelight as Kandol bagged his second just after the re-start. Both defences had done their fair share of treating the bouncing ball more like a bouncing bomb but it was the visiting back line that was running for cover as a long Harrison kick took one bounce for Kandol to head over Gilks.
The home side could have stretched their lead had it not been for some excellent Alan Goodall defending, sparing the blushes of colleague James Sharp who lost the ball on the edge of his own box, Goodall stabbed clear Bailey’s low cross and then blocked another well struck Puncheon shot at the far post.
Next it was the turn of Barnet’s defence to go absent without leave as Rochdale equalised in a game that had become end to end stuff. Goodall, now performing duties in the opponents half, hit a long cross over from the left, and Murray, gleefully spotting that there was not a defender in sight, looped a superb header over the stranded Harrison.
Both teams searched for the winner. Kandol should have had his hat trick sooner; taking too much time when put through on goal and then guiding a free header wide of the target, whilst at the other end Murray’s goal had given him renewed confidence and he nearly found the top corner with a speculative shot from the edge of the area.
The game slowed in the final ten minutes and both sides looked to have settled for a point until Kandol rose to nod home Hessenthaler’s cross in the ninety-first minute and give his side the crucial winner in this bottom of the table clash. Barnet went ballistic at the final whistle, Rochdale went home to reflect on what is fast becoming a relegation battle and they had just been beaten by one of their fellow contenders.
Rochdale manager Steve Parkin was utterly dejected after the game and rightly upset at his team’s abject defensive display. He said: “To come away from Spotland and score two goals should be enough to pick up a point or even all three but the dedication and application to get your head on things and deal with situations wasn’t good enough and that resulted in their striker getting a hat-trick which, in all honesty, he hasn’t had to work too hard to get.
“There is nothing wrong with the character in the squad and there isn’t anything wrong with the group of players but if you give goals away like we have been doing over the last five or six weeks then it knocks your confidence, that makes it very difficult to put building blocks in place.”
Monday night’s cup replay is now even more crucial and brings some much needed extra revenue to the club. With the pressure growing on Steve Parkin and his team, the question on the lips of every Dale fan is whether or not Parkin will be the man to spend the cash when the January transfer window opens.
Man of the Match
Tresor Kandol – His three goals fired Barnet to a vital victory that lifted his side four points above Rochdale in the league. Like Steve Parkin said he did not have to work particularly hard for the hat-trick but he was in the right place at the right time and took all three very comfortably.
Attendance: 1972
Barnet: Harrison, Hendon, Yakubu, King, Nicolau, Cogan (Hatch 72), Bailey, Hessenthaler, Puncheon (Warhurst 90), Sinclair, Kandol.
Subs not used: Flitney, Graham, Vieira.
Booked: Kandol.
Rochdale: Gilks, Jackson, Stanton, Sharp, Goodall, Brown, Jones, Clarke (Cooksey 63), Sako, Murray (Rundle 87), Dagnall.
Subs not used: McArdle, Ramsden, Rigby.
Booked: Murray, Sharp, Stanton.
Attempts (on target): Barnet 9 (6) Rochdale 13 (6)
Free kicks: Barnet 11 Rochdale 25
Corners: Barnet 4 Rochdale 6
Referee: G Sutton
Do you have a story for us?
Let us know by emailing news@rochdaleonline.co.uk
All contact will be treated in confidence.
Most Viewed News Stories
To contact the Rochdale Online news desk, email news@rochdaleonline.co.uk or visit our news submission page.
To get the latest news on your desktop or mobile, follow Rochdale Online on Twitter and Facebook.