Flemming Pedersen admitted that Tuesday’s success was badly needed by his players as they ended a ten game wait for a win thanks to a 4-2 victory over Barnsley. Two first-half goals from Bradley Clayton set them on their way with Nathan Fox and Herson Rodrigues Alves adding second-half strikes to confirm the points. It was The Bees first success since December and after the match Flemming admitted that Tuesday’s game was all about the three points.
Speaking to Bees Player after the match Flemming said: “I am very pleased with the win because our overall focus today was a win. I had a meeting with the captain group in the week and they said that the players really wanted a win after ten games without one. Up to now we have only been thinking about education and we have been forcing the players to play a little faster than they can to accelerate their education. Today we controlled the game more and played a little slower so that the team worked together all the time. That made it easier to win.
“I could feel that the players really wanted to win and that will give a boost to them. We decided that the game on Saturday is another game where we have the focus on winning. Our team at the moment is an Under-19 team with only three players older than 19. We will travel to Huddersfield and have a good performance.”
Despite leading 2-0 at the break The Bees offered Barnsley a way back into the match as Fox’s misplaced pass allowed James Carvell to break and score just after the break. The experienced Danish coach felt his side dominated the match, apart from the period around Barnsley’s first goal, and could take a lot of positives from the match.
“There was a lot to take from this game in terms of learning and it was also a good experience,” said Flemming. “We played a controlled game in and out of possession apart from the first eight minutes of the second-half. At half-time we were talking about what Barnsley would do, that is always a good question to ask the players, and we said that we could only lose to ourselves. In the first eight minutes we were a little shaky and we gave them a goal but after that we controlled it again. It was the teamwork that won the game.”
Tuesday’s match was the first-time that The Bees had scored more than twice in a match since mid-January. In their different ways Flemming was pleased with all four of the goals and he was especially happy to see Herson Alves on the scoresheet after a long wait to find the net.
“The first goal was the chipped ball from Zain Westbrooke into Bradley Clayton who was running in behind,” said Flemming. “The second goal came after a good high press and the good pass from Jermaine Udumaga to Tom Field. The Barnsley goalkeeper should have dealt with the shot for the third but the build-up was brilliant: we played it wide and got a lot of space. It was a brilliant goal to make it 4-1 with Herson Alves. He has been struggling taking good chances recently but today he was clinical in that situation.”
Bees Player subscribers can watch the full interview with Flemming below