Brennan: Worst performance of the season

A disappointed Dean Brennan labeled his Barnet side’s performance in a shock 4-0 defeat at home to Solihull Moors as the “worst of the season” on Saturday.

The Bees saw their dream of promotion to the Football League dashed when they succumbed to an early flurry of pressure from the visitors in the National League play-off semi-final and never recovered.

Early strikes from James Clarke and Jack Stevens, combined with second-half goals from former Wealdstone striker Tahvon Campbell and Joe Sbarra inflicted the Bees’ biggest defeat of the season at the worst possible time.

“We scored terrible goals. I served probably my worst performance of the season,” Brennan told the club’s website.

“Full credit to the opposition though. I want to congratulate them, they were clinical with the first two efforts for our goal behind our net.

“We had the first big chance of the game. Ade (Oluwo) has a header from six yards, he has to score.

“At 2-0, Nicke (Kabamba) has a volley, and he has to score as well. We are in the first half, there are two chances for both teams and we are 2-0.

“All the credit goes to them in the second half because they countered us again, which we’ve been talking about all week and watching and working and training.”

As Brennan went on to list the games where his side have underperformed in recent times, the Irishman hinted at how his side’s progress will play out in the new campaign.

“When it comes to the big games, we’ve come up short,” he added.

“That’s Newport here, Boreham Wood was here last year. Gateshead far from last year. Chesterfield away when we were dominant in the first half earlier in the season.

“I know what needs to happen now, so we will start building the new squad for the 2024/25 season and we will start tomorrow.”

The Bees created a flurry of chances in the first half that should have seen them level on two separate occasions, leaving Brennan to rue missed opportunities to find a way back into the tie.

“There is a lack of quality in front of goal. Ade has a glorious chance, Nicke has a glorious chance. You have to score in these big games. Goals change games,” he said.

“Their first entry into our box – header, goal. Second in from a defensive goal kick, Croppsy (Jordan Cropper) is not on the cover, Danny (Collinge) is tackled. Left foot, great finish and we’re 2-0.

“Goals change games and we gave them a boost. They came to play on the counter and we were sloppy. We were poor and we looked nervous and we came up short.”

Solihull Moors will play Bromley in the final at Wembley, while Brennan is left with something to think about in the summer, starting with building his squad as he targets promotion for a third successive season.