Bees And Wings Fail To Take Off - Barnet vs. Welling United

Kick off at The Hive

I've been off work this week and to take advantage of not having to be up in the morning, I've taken in a couple of mid week games. On Tuesday night, I made the long tube journey to North London for the Conference National game between Barnet and Welling United. Both teams were having OK seasons and were both sat just outside the play offs. Barnet will always bring good memories for me as it was against The Bees that I was mascot for Scunthorpe United. Welling's Park View is one of my favourite grounds in London that I've visited. Several years ago I made a very hungover trip on New Year's Day for a Conference South derby against Bromley.

The main stand at The Hive

As the headline suggests the game wasn't a classic but it was still entertaining enough. Both sides had chances in the first half. Welling had a header cleared off the line and Barnet couldn't quite find the killer pass at the other end. The second half was more of the same with both sides having periods of possession but still not being able to beat either keeper.

Welling attack in the first half

The nearest Underground station to The Hive is Canons Park on the Jubilee Line. The journey from Central London takes around half an hour. The ground is then a short ten minute walk away. Even closer to the station is Moranos which is more of bar but is more than welcoming and has Sky Sports. The bar at The Hive is quite large and served hot food and also had Sky Sports. There is also a large selection of beers. One thing that will unfortunately stick with me is how expensive the whole experience was. It was £16 to stand, £3 for a programme (which was very good) and £4 for a pint. I acknowledge these are tough times and crowds aren't great but this is surely too much to be paying for non league.

As I said in the previous paragraph, the programme produced for the game is a brilliant effort. There were lots of articles regarding recent games and a lot of detail on the visiting side. The one thing I really liked was the picture quiz on former players. Unfortunately I didn't recognise any of them but it was still a great idea.

The terrace where I watched the first half.