Football – England – Conference Premier
Tuesday 11th November 2014 – Kickoff: 2000hrs
Barnet will now have to concentrate on the Conference Premier following their FA Cup first round exit at the hands of League Two outfit Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday.
Barnet lost 1-3 but as they’re currently sitting top of the Conference Premier, I daresay their attentions and priorities are to achieve promotion back up to the football league this season. The Bees currently hold a commanding nine point lead over rivals Grimsby Town and Gateshead, and welcome mid-table Torquay United to The Hive tonight.
Barnet have won their last three league matches on the trot with wins over Gateshead 2-0 away, Braintree Town 3-0 at home and a 2-1 win at Welling United last time out. Their overall home record stands at an impressive 6-1-2 21/7 and they’ve won three of their last four.
The hosts have also kept five clean sheets this term as Martin Allen’s side look to make sure of promotion this season.
Visitors Torquay United were one of the favourites for automatic promotion back up to the football league following their relegation from League Two, but so far things haven’t turned out that way for The Gulls.
They started brightly enough having lost just once in their first eleven matches, and they indeed looked the team to beat in the Conference this term, but a terrible run of five defeats in their last six matches (started by a defeat at bottom club AFC Telford), Torquay find themselves in a disappointing mid-table position, some 15 points adrift of today’s opponents Barnet.
Torquay’s away record stands at 3-1-5 15/16 and they’ve lost their last four away matches on the trot with defeats at AFC Telford, Forest Green Rovers, Alfreton Town and Kidderminster. They’ve also struggled on the road away at some of the top teams this season with losses at Gateshead and the aforementioned Forest Green and Kidderminster.
Barnet will be keen to preserve their nine-point cushion at the top of the Conference and given Torquay’s poor away results recently, I’ll back The Bees for the straight win here, perhaps 2-1.
Pick: Barnet straight win @ 1.83 Bet Victor
