Get the lowdown on the U’s next opponents: Barnet.

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The Opposition

Barnet have been a side on a mission under manager Dean Brennan, and the matter of the Bees clinching the Vanarama National League title is now surely a case of when rather than if.

After an eight-year spell in the Football League came to an end in 2013, the Bees have spent much of their recent history in the fifth tier, aside from a three-year stint back in League Two between 2015 and 2018. Since then though, Barnet have largely stagnated under a whole host of different managers, with Brennan becoming the seventh permanent manager to take charge at The Hive in three years. John Still had taken the mantel from previous boss Martin Allen, and would precede stints for Darren Currie, Peter Beadle, Tim Flowers and Harry Kewell, who were all unable to mount a serious promotion push while in the Barnet hotseat.

However, the arrival of Brennan in 2021 has sparked a huge change in fortunes for the Bees, who have subsequently enjoyed a fifth and second place finish under his leadership. This is a stark contrast to the previous two finishes of 18th and 22nd, with the latter only seeing them remain in the fifth tier due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

An unlikely chance of opportunity, Barnet have gratefully accepted and have continued to build what is considered one of the best squads in the division. Despite losing top scorer Nicke Kabamba to Bromley, the Bees have managed to seamlessly plug the gap in the form of Lee Ndlovu from rivals Boreham Wood and Dom Telford from Barrow, and have added even more quality to an already talented group. The likes of captain Anthony Hartigan keeps things ticking over in midfield alongside Zak Brunt and Mark Shelton, while Danny Collinge, Nikola Tavares and Adebola Oluwo have held down the fort at the back and allowed the likes of top scorer Callum Stead, along with Ryan Glover, Rhys Browne and Idris Kanu to threaten on the flanks.

As a result, the Bees currently sit top of the league with a four-point gap to York City, and having led the division for a number of weeks now, are bound to cement top spot sooner rather than later. With this being said, defeat to Braintree Town and draws with Wealdstone and Eastleigh have recently delayed the inevitable, and Barnet will be looking to avoid a major slip up.

The Bees could be named champions at long last against Sutton providing York lose to Oldham Athletic, but the U’s will be looking to spoil the party on home soil, and could potentially have a key part to play in the title race.

Recent Form

Barnet 1-1 Eastleigh

Barnet 1-1 Wealdstone

Braintree Town 2-1 Barnet

Barnet 3-1 Gateshead

Altrincham 0-1 Barnet

Woking 0-1 Barnet

Barnet 1-0 Dagenham & Redbridge

The Manager

Dean Brennan

Former forward Dean Brennan arrived in the Barnet dugout back in 2021, and has been the architect of a huge change in fortunes at The Hive since his inception.

Towards the end of a 13-year playing career, Brennan joined Hemel Hempstead Town in 2010, and was appointed as caretaker manager at the age of just 29 after the sacking of Gary Phillips.

He would later move to Dunstable Town at the start of the 2011/12 season as a player/coach, and even managed the side in cup ties before returning to Hemel at the end of the season, this time as their permanent manager. He guided the Tudors to their highest ever finish, with a fourth place finish in the Southern League Premier Division seeing them qualify for the play-offs, losing 5–4 on penalties against Gosport Borough, but they would find themselves in the Conference South sooner rather than later, winning the Southern Premier League by ten clear points the following season.

The Tudors would establish themselves in the sixth tier, with a respectable ninth place finish being followed by narrowly missing out on the play-offs in 2015/16, as Whitehawk pipped them on the final day to fifth place.

A successful six years at Vauxhall Road would come to an end in 2018 with stints at Billericay Town, Kingstonian and Wealdstone following, and alongside current Notts County boss Stuart Maynard, guided the latter to the National League South title in 2020/21.

After initially turning down an approach from Barnet, Brennan would eventually move to The Hive as Head of Football, before replacing Harry Kewell in the hotseat a few months later. Having initially taken on the role as caretaker, the Republic of Ireland-born made the role permanent in February 2022, and has subsequently guided the Bees to a rapid rise up the division, with a fifth and second place finish seeing the club mount their first serious promotion push since their relegation from League Two back in 2018, prior to the current campaign in which they have led the way for a number of weeks now.

One to Watch

Anthony Hartigan

Barnet captain Anthony Hartigan has established himself as one of the best midfielders in all of non-league and is bound to be a tough opponent for the U’s on Easter Monday.

Born in Kingston-upon Thames, Hartigan started his career at AFC Wimbledon, signing his first professional deal on his 17th birthday and later became the first player born in the 2000s to represent them.

He went on to play 118 times for the Wombles, but following a loan spell at Newport County, left Wimbledon at the expiry of his contract in 2022, joining Mansfield Town. However, despite initially playing frequently for the Stags, he was soon sidelined for the majority of the season with a shoulder injury, bringing his Mansfield career to a premature end and led to him signing for Barnet on loan in August 2023.

Hartigan went on to impress immediately though and returned to his best form in the fifth tier, sweeping up every award possible at the end of his first season, including Players’ Player, Manager’s Player and Young Player of the Season.

His form the Bees made it a no brainer to make the switch permanent, and has since gone on to add a further 39 appearances this season, playing every single minute aside from half-an-hour on New Year’s Day.

Last Time We Met

Ryan Glover’s last gasp leveller stole a point from the grasp of Sutton United, who had previously come from behind late in the second half in a thrilling encounter.

Ashley Nadesan broke the deadlock after 21 minutes when he latched onto Jack Wadham’s through ball and fired past Nick Hayes, before strikes in quick succession from Glover and Adebola Oluwu sent the Bees into the break ahead.

Chances for Nadesan and Lewis Simper saw the U’s go close to levelling after the break, before Will Davies met the former’s cross from the right flank to equalise, and preceded the visitors shell-shocking the Bees when Besart Topallaj pounced on an under hit back pass to put them ahead.

The U’s battled for the remainder of the game and came within seconds of securing victory to end the year, but eight minutes of added time allowed Barnet to put a barrage of pressure on Sutton’s backline, with Glover popping up at the death to steal a point.

Head-to-Head

Barnet 3-3 Sutton United (26/12/2024)

Barnet 2-0 Sutton United (29/05/2021)

Sutton United 1-0 Barnet (27/04/2021)

Sutton United 1-1 Barnet (06/08/2019)

Sutton United 0-0 Barnet (19/02/2019)

Barnet 0-1 Sutton United (0902/2019)

Barnet 0-2 Sutton United (06/12/1969)

Barnet 3-0 Sutton United (30/11/1946)

Played for Both

Nicky Bailey

Former midfielder Nicky Bailey played over 200 times for Sutton, having joined from Barnet in 2016 after what was his second spell in North London.

Born in Putney, Bailey began his career with Fulham before moving to Sutton as a teenager, going on to appear 85 times across a five-year stint at Gander Green Lane, and quickly became a key figure in the U’s midfield.

This preceded a move to Barnet, playing over 100 times, contributing to the club’s promotion-winning campaign to League Two in his first season before helping to establish the club in the Football League over the following two years, even being voted Player of the Season at the end of 2006/07.

Following three years at Barnet, Bailey subsequently enjoyed stints at Southend United, Charlton Athletic, Middlesbrough and Millwall, notably being voted as Charlton’s Player of the Season after top scoring in his first season, and later captained the Addicks to a play-off semi-final defeat against Swindon Town.

A brief return at Barnet then followed his release from Millwall, but he only played a handful of times and departed at the end of his short-team deal, rejoining Sutton midway through the 2015/16 campaign. He subsequently contributed to the U’s winning promotion to the National League, and later appeared during the historic run to the FA Cup Fifth Round, before departing after three-and-a-half years back at Gander Green Lane in which he had become a firm fans’ favourite and a key part of the squad under Paul Doswell.

Bailey would go on to play professional football for another two years, reuniting with Doswell at Havant & Waterlooville as well as turning out for Gosport Borough and Cray Wanderers, before hanging up his boots in 2021.

Photo Credit: Barnet Football Club