Bees boss praise for Chaplin finish

New Barnet boss Kevin Nugent, left, cuts a frustrated figure as Conor Chaplin celebrates his late Pompey leveller Picture: Joe Pepler

Kevin Nugent gave Conor Chaplin the plaudits on his Barnet bow.

But the Bees manager felt there was more his side could have done to stop his point-saving strike at The Hive.

Nugent took charge of his side for the first time in Saturday’s 1-1 draw.

He was pleased with what he saw from his players after a gruelling trip to Morecambe on Tuesday.

But he afforded praise for the quality of Chaplin’s 89th-minute leveller.

Nugent told Barnetfc.com: ‘Their equaliser was a absolutely fantastic strike, so you’ve got to give the lad from Portsmouth credit for that.

‘But from a coach’s point of view there were things we could have done to stop it.

‘I’ve got to give the players a lot of credit though – they did a 12-hour round trip to Morecambe during the week.

‘They got in at 4am and then had training later in the week, but the players put in such a shift today.

‘I’m really pleased with them, despite being disappointed we didn’t hang on.

‘There’s some real raw talent in this squad, there just needs to be a little bit of tinkering in terms of how we’re going to play.

‘I’m definitely excited about some of things that I saw.’

Nugent was pleased with a point as Barnet kept up their ambitions of making the play-offs.

He said: ‘We’ll improve on bits and pieces, but everyone performed.

‘We were treating this as our most important match ahead of the game.

‘Our next match against Cambridge United now becomes our most important game. I’m not looking at mini-leagues or anything like that, I’m just looking at the next fixture.

‘If we perform against Cambridge like we did against Portsmouth – who are one of the best teams in the league – and for the rest of our remaining matches, then we’ll have a chance of achieving something this season.’

– JORDAN CROSS