Barnet 0 Rochdale 0

After their "international break" last weekend Dale faced the usually tough trip to Underhill and despite the level of performance again falling well short of those produced last season they did at least come away with a draw and a first clean sheet of the new campaign.

In an attempt to find some sort of form manager Keith Hill again shuffled his pack and opted for a 4-3-3 with impressive debut boy Kelvin Lomax slotting in at right back and a front three of Dagnall, Murray and Le Fondre.

 In truth the changes  didn't work and though Dale did defend well they produced little threat at the other end whilst being thankful for an upright and some simply awful Barnet finishing.                                             

It what was a disjointed and less than enthralling game Barnet played much the better football but only in patches-with nippy front men Birchall and Thomas linking well with star man Puncheon. Two or three times in the opening period they cut a swathe through the Dale rear guard only for Thomas, Birchall and Bishop to blaze either high or wide of the target. In one terrific move Puncheon produced 2 dangerous crosses that the increasingly reliable Tom Kennedy did well to clear.

At the other end despite the advantage of kicking down the slope Dale produced only 2 first half chances as Dagnall saw a shot on the turn saved and then, through on goal ,saw another effort brilliantly beaten away by Barnet keeper Lee Harrison who was celebrating his 300th appearance for his club.

Early in the 2nd half Barnet replaced their 2 wayward finishers and Hill switched to 4--4-2 bringing on Ben Muirhead and Rory Prendergast but suprised a good few of the travelling fans by bringing off Adam Le Fondre and John Doolan. 

In truth none of the changes lifted the game from the mediocre although Barnet did hit an upright courtesy of a wickedly curled Puncheon free kick and Dagnall saw Harrison produce the save of the match to keep out his far post header- apart from that the only other talking point was Dagnall seemingly being denied a penalty by referee Graham, who in truth had a shocker.

It is 3 games unbeaten in the league and it is a clean sheet but where are the "no fear" performances of last season? Dale at this moment look a shadow of the side that swept many an opponent away last term with fast flowing attacking, winger inspired football. There are 41 games to go so lets hope a return to that starts next week against Macclesfield. 

Barnet: Harrison, Devera, Yakubu, Burton, Gillet, Wright, Bishop, Porter (Nicolau 82), Puncheon, Thomas (Hatch 61), Birchall (Norville 61).
Subs Not Used: Beckwith, O'Cearuill.

Rochdale: Spencer, Lomax, McArdle, Branston, Kennedy, Doolan (Prendergast 65), Jones, Perkins, Dagnall, Le Fondre (Muirhead 65), Murray.
Subs Not Used: Russell, Higginbotham, Crooks.