Graham Westley believes he laid the foundations to Newport County’s League Two survival last season. Westley though, has been out of management since his sacking by the club last March.
Redemption time has now come, as the new manager of Barnet. Yesterday, Westley took charge of Barnet for the first time. And it was a solid start against a Lincoln City side on the cusp of the play-off positions.
It was a dream start for the home side at The Hive Stadium, 28-tear-old John Akinde giving Barnet a 12th minute lead. A 47th minute equaliser for Lincoln from James Wilson took the gloss off a fine afternoon’s work. But it was an end to a relentless losing streak for Barnet. Coupled with that, is an injection of stability, much-needed by the club.
Barnet are still heavily anchored to the foot of the League Two table, but with yesterday’s result there is hope. Westley was happy with how his team passed the ball and played to their strengths.
“I think the players deserve the point that they won and they will take a lot of confidence, and deserve a lot of credit for what they put in.”
Barnet will have a chance to build on the momentum of this result next Saturday. They travel to the LCI Rail Stadium to face Cheltenham Town. Another away game against Mansfield Town takes place at the One Call Stadium the following week.
The outcome of those two games will go a considerable distance to illustrating if Barnet’s trajectory is a return to progress or not.
In the meantime, Westley can feel satisfied with his new sides first performance under his tutelage.
