Dean Brennan lauded the character of his players as National League champions-elect Barnet extended their winning run to six matches with a last-gasp 1-0 win over Dagenham & Redbridge.
January signing Lindokuhle Ndlovu struck in the 93rd minute to push Bees closer to the title, but they were frustrated as the visitors’ staunch defensive game plan proved difficult to break down.
“That’s character. That’s togetherness. That’s the supporters pushing us. We’re going to have games like that,” Brennan told the club website.
“I said to the players at half-time, we can’t be looking at officials or referees making horrendous decisions. Not booking second bookings, the tackle on (Anthony) Hartigan’s a straight red card. We can’t rely on referees. We can’t rely on anybody.
"We can rely on ourselves, though; I’ll tell you that now. That’s character. That’s togetherness. That’s courage.”
Not for the first time this season, Brennan felt referee Paul Marsden struggled to manage the game appropriately after shouts for a penalty and dangerous play from a visiting player went unpunished.
Brennan said: “We played better than we did the other night (5-0 win over Yeovil). We missed absolute sitters. We missed some glorious chances. There was a penalty on (Nik) Tavares not given. He’s about to head the ball in the net, and the geezer’s pulling on his neck.
“It’s just a cop-out from the officials - an absolute cop-out. They want to talk about behaviour and how it looks and all that. He’s (Marsden) warned the lad before, their left wing-back. Then he goes and makes a foul again, and it’s meant to be perception (whether it’s a foul). It is what it is.
“There was no excuses from our point of view. We played better than on Tuesday and we created chance after chance. That’s what good teams do. That’s what teams that want to write their own history do.
“We’ve done that today with a fantastic victory."
And the Barnet boss thanked the home fans for their support throughout the game.
“That was our 12th man today. That kept pushing us. The seven minutes went up, which should have been 17 minutes the way they (Dagenham) played,” he added.
“They come here, just sat in. It’s just what everybody does. I understand from their point of view. I’d do the exact same thing if I was them. I’d sit in and slow the game down. I’d take ages, 30 seconds on every goal kick. Take ages on every throw-in, nick a load of yards.
“How many times was Idris (Kanu) fouled by the same player? Ridiculous. I won’t be giving him a good report that referee; I can tell you that now. They say, ‘Don’t come out, don’t say this, and don’t say that’.
“At the end of the day, they’re judged on their performance. Their performance today, the officiating, was shambolic.”
Barnet will look to continue their charge towards the title at Woking on Saturday (3pm).
