Anderson brave in face of injury
By Nicholas Harling
(Filed: 08/08/2005)

Barnet (0) 1 Bristol Rovers (0) 1

The sight of John Anderson being escorted towards the touchline with his nose "leaning towards his ear", as Phil Kite, the Bristol Rovers physio, so eloquently put it, should have hastened Barnet towards an opening-day victory on their return to the Football League.

The visiting defender spent most of the game in hospital after fracturing and dislocating his nose in an aerial collision. Displaying far more courage than wisdom, the durable Scot then insisted that he would be fit to captain the side tomorrow against Grimsby. "I cannot get any uglier," he reasoned.

While Rovers were down to 10 men, Dean Sinclair went close for the second time for Barnet. Even with Craig Hinton on as substitute, the visitors were rocking. The only surprise was that it took Barnet 77 minutes to go ahead. They had already been denied by two goalline clearances when Richard Graham beat the advancing Scott Shearer to Ismail Yakubu's long ball.

"It was not a classic goal, a bit of a fluke" admitted Barnet manager Paul Fairclough who said that his players were "gut wrenched" by Junior Agogo's late equaliser.

Barnet (4-1-4-1): Tynan; Hendon, Yakubu, King, Charles; Lee; Strevens (Hatch 89), Sinclair, Bailey, Graham; Grazioli (Norville 86). Subs: Flitney (g), Gross, Soares. Goal: Graham (77).
Bristol Rovers (3-5-2): Shearer; Edwards, Anderson (Hinton 10), Elliott; Bass (Williams 80), Dissley, Lescott, Campbell, Ryan; Walker (Louis 70) Agogo. Subs: Forrester, Gibb. Goal: Agogo (87).
Referee: D Drysdale (Lincolnshire).