Ah yes, it's the return of the away day.
Drove to Oxford Parkway Station at 10.15 this morning for the 10.49 train. Traffic on the bypass and the stupidly long distance between the car park and the parking ticket machine meant I made the train by just three minutes. Phew.
I don't know if I'm getting old or what but I was weirdly looking forward to taking the train from Oxford's new station into Marylebone.
Anyway, got into London at around midday, planning to meet my friend Jonny. Jonny text me at 11.50 to say he hadn't left his home yet, his home is in Hackney. This did not go down well seeing as we arranged to meet at midday.
So I wandered around aimlessly outside Marylebone and suddenly found myself in Baker Street. Surrounded by culture and the diverse restaurants, I decided I would get a KFC whilst I waited for my late friend.
Twenty minutes later and regretting the KFC, still no sign of Jonny, so I went and got a coffee from Eat. Exciting day so far, right? This is where Jonny joined me. After the overpriced coffee was done with we headed to the nearest pub we could see, The Globe, of course named after Shakespeare's nearby theatre.
We're two big ale fans, so ale is what we drank. The first, 1893 was bitter after a while and the IPA that followed feels strange in my stomach whilst I write this. So, four pints later and twenty quid spent, we headed to Canons Park, the new home of Barnet FC.
On the tube and feeling somewhat lightheaded, we decided to get off at Queensbury instead of Canons Park and walk from there. The lack of football or indeed any sort of life indicated we were wrong to do so.
And so, just like when I went to Dagenham away in November with Jonny, we found ourselves lost and jogging to the ground.
We could hear the Oxford singing inside fans from way outside the stadium, a helpful aid in our hunt for the ground.
I'd ordered under 19 tickets because hey, why would I spend an extra ten quid on an adult ticket when I'm only six months into being 19? So, feeling slightly nervous, I approached the ticket office, gave them my name, awaiting the ask for ID it was actually quite nerve-racking. The attendant handed over our tickets without any bother, and we were in, buzzin off the ale and tenner we had saved.
I'd been to Underhill, Barnet's old ground, it wasn't a pretty sight with the higgeldy piggeldy stands throughout. This one, The Hive, resembled a community-centre-come-stadium, with one stand having about five tiers before a large building engulfed it. And the stadium has been doing wonders for The Bees, they have the second best home record in League Two.
Good thing we have the second best away record in League Two! A great contest was surely on the cards.
Jonny and I were in the seated away section, where I feared the atmosphere would be far worse than that in the terrace. It was surprisingly noisy! And as the game got underway, it felt as if we were the home team.
Callum O'Dowda was played in on goal after five minutes by John Lundstram, the winger found himself one on one with the keeper, but could not find the back of the net. A good start to this high intensity game for Oxford.
Benji Buchel, Liechtenstein's and Oxford's number one keeper has often been called into question this season regarding his ability to save aerial balls. But Buchel produced an outstanding save fifteen minutes in, getting down low quickly to tip Myles Weston's header round the post. His shot-stopping ability certainly isn't in doubt.
The game slowed down somewhat after the start, but Liam Sercombe should have tucked away a chance from the centre of the box after a pull back from Kemar Roofe. His shot was straight at the keeper, an inch either side would surely have seen the opening goal.
The rest of the first half showed why Barnet had beaten promotion hopefuls at The Hive, they defended resiliently and up top had a confident striker in John Akinde. Chey Dunkley and Jonny Mullins were dealing brilliantly with the threat.
And so that was half time. It was getting cold, and the alcohol warmth had certainly warn off. Tea it was.
Ferocious starts to the second half is something we as Oxford fans are becoming accustomed to. O'Dowda opened the scoring for us after a deflected shot looped high, and he was quickest to react to slot under the keeper. A bizarre goal, but we'll take it, the travelling support went mad.
A period of Oxford pressure followed, we managed to unpick the Barnet defence more and more often as the half wore on. O'Dowda grabbed his second of the day by running from the halfway line across the lonesome defender. His initial shot rebounded back to him, and he was able to shoot low past the goalkeeper and onrushing defence.
Danny Hylton and Jordan Bowery's introduction after the goal gave Oxford different options, with the two harder working and pressing the Barnet defence whenever they had the ball, this meant they were unable to create any meaningful chances. Andy Yiadom came closest for them, a shot from the edge of the area forced Buchel to parry round the post.
It was Hylton who sealed the three points. Lundstram showed pace we were unaware he had to get down the right flank, before lifting the ball into the path of the ever-willing Oxford striker, who shot across the keeper.
As the ref blew for full time, every Oxford fan was beaming. This was a confident performance with class and a killer instinct. Beating a team with an excellent home record was cause for encouragement.
Leaving the ground, Jonny and I headed back to Queensbury station, and met the Oxford fans who had rightly got on the tube at Canons Park on the train. All in good voice as you can imagine, a chap behind me looked as if he'd had one too many and was beginning to drop off.
And then back to Oxford it was, a fantastic day. This season is promising, very promising. We now sit second in the table, with Plymouth losing it is looking more and more like automatic promotion beckons... But don't say that too loudly.
-Michael
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