Devonshire sees red as Maidenhead United are stung by the Bees at the death

Jayden Mitchell-Lawson. Photo: Maidenhead United

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Barnet 3, Maidenhead United 2

Magpies’ manager Alan Devonshire was shown a straight red card as Maidenhead United were defeated in dramatic circumstances at The Hive this afternoon.

Devonshire was dismissed in the 92nd minute, moments after Dale Gorman had fired the hosts into a 3-2 lead. The United boss clearly felt one of the Bees' attackers was in an offside position and interfering with goalkeeper Craig Ross' line of sight as Gorman curled the ball home from just outside the area. 

The referee initially appeared to disallow the goal before consulting his linesman and awarding Barnet their third goal in stoppage time. 

That wasn’t the end of the drama, however, as defender Sam Beckwith – for a second yellow - and Magpies’ coach Liam Vaughan were also shown red in the closing stages of a match that was packed with incident.

For long periods of this game in North London, it looked like being another very positive afternoon for the Magpies – to back up their solid draws against Chesterfield, Oldham Athletic and Rochdale and last weekend’s FA Cup win at Weston-Super-Mare.

But hopes of a much-needed three points fizzled away in the closing stages after the visitors scored twice through Jayden Mitchell-Lawson and Brad Keetch to take a 2-1 lead into the interval.

The match was only four minutes old when the in-form Bees took the lead through Idris Kanu’s strike from distance. However, the Magpies weren’t behind for long, with Mitchell-Lawson firing home from close range to make it 1-1 in the 11th minute.

Craig Ross, who was excellent for much of this game, made a diving save to keep out Nicke Kabamba’s header following a free kick in the 15th minute.

The home side just about shaded the first half in terms of chances, but the Magpies weren’t without their moments of danger. Just before the half-hour, Will De Havilland got his head on a Charlee Adams’ free-kick but the effort didn’t have enough power to beat Laurie Walker.

Senior dragged a shot wide for the Bees in the 30th minute before Ross made another fingertip save to deny the hosts a second. But Maidenhead came back strongly at the end of the half, with Mitchell-Lawson seeing his effort from a tight angle rebound into the area before Reece Smith was denied by Walker. However, the pressure didn’t go to waste with Keetch making it 2-1 to the Magpies on the stroke of half-time.

Unfortunately for Devonshire’s side they couldn’t hold onto that lead long enough into the second period to cause panic in the home ranks. The half was only six minutes old when Stead brought the sides level, and the Bees held the edge for the remainder of the game. That’s not to say the Magpies didn’t pose a threat, however, with Mitchell-Lawson coming desperately close to a second with a shot that hit the inside of the post in the 70th minute. Chanka Zimba looked certain to bury the rebound but Walker somehow managed to keep the ball out.

Hartigan went close with a shot that Ross held well, and substitute Gorman took a shot that flew over the bar with 10 minutes to play. But it looked like the Magpies would hold on for a precious point before Gorman grabbed the Bees’ third in injury-time and Devonshire, Beckwith and Vaughan all saw red.

The Magpies have now lost on each of their trips to Barnet in the National League. They remain 22nd in the table, now two points from safety, ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Aldershot Town.