Giving Bar a bit more of a chance than before the half term break was the news that the side were able to field a squad of 13 players – unheard of riches – including Will Clark, making his debut in defence.

Tom Miller was starting in goal but his day got off to a tricky start just before push back when a strike from Miles Tomkins during the warm up deflected into his face protector. Then, less than 90 seconds into the match itself, and having kicked the ball straight to a Blueharts forward, he was again struck in the head in making a crucial save. In hindsight, a goalkeeping concussion substitution was probably needed at this stage rather than having to wait until the break, as Miller was clearly hampered during the remainder of the half.

After surviving that early scare – Tom Miller also making a save from the short corner that followed him taking the blow – Bar took the lead with their first serious attack on 4 minutes. A long run down the left from Zahid Khan appeared to have been dealt with by the Blueharts defence, but the ball ran loose to George Fennell on the edge of the D and he managed to find Miles Tomkins close to goal, who made no mistake. The lead lasted barely 2 minutes. Tom Miller had already made one more save, but on this occasion (impacted by his injuries) he allowed a fairly speculative shot to go under his foot.

Blueharts were probably the better team in the first half as they created a number of chances. They really should have taken the lead midway through the half as an effort from close in was hit wide. On 21 minutes Tom Miller made an excellent save rushing off his line after the ball had been given away. Blueharts forced 2 short corners later in the half and from the second of those, on 32 minutes, they took the lead when the shot from the edge of the D just got past Tom Miller and George McConachie on the line.

Bar also created chances. On 18 minutes a long ball from defence found Mark Turpin in space in the D but his shot was blocked. Two minutes later Bar could consider themselves unlucky not to have scored a second goal as a short corner was awarded just as Mark Turpin was taking a shot that ended up in the goal – his effort from the short corner was then deflected wide. Then with the final action of the half Bar won another short corner after another Mark Turpin effort was saved - with everyone up for the corner, Ajay Patel was denied when his effort from close in struck the post.

Skipper James McCormick was relatively calm as he opened discussion at half time but Miles Tomkins got things going as he felt the team had failed to play with the required energy given the 13 man squad and that he felt that the whole team needed to up their game and then a win would be there for the taking. The side then welcomed second team goalkeeper Amaan Rashid to the huddle as he replaced Tom Miller!

Bar got the message as they immediately set off the second half on the front foot and largely dominated proceedings. Just a minute in and Simon Tenwick and Zahid Khan linked up well to get the ball through to Mark Turpin who found Miles Tomkins close to goal but his effort from close range was either deflected wide of the post by the goalkeeper (according to Miles) or helped on its way past the post by the goalkeeper when already going wide (according to everyone else, including Veo)!

An equaliser soon came however when after 40 minutes, just after Blueharts had dropped to 10 men following a green card, Zahid Khan found himself all alone inside the D having been found by Ben White’s pass and he made no mistake in finding the corner of the goal. Mark Turpin nearly gave the side the lead a minute later but was denied by a combination of blocks by the goalkeeper and a defender.

Bar kept pressing for a winning goal - Miles Tomkins was denied twice by the goalkeeper on 45 minutes after an excellent run and cross from the right from Jonathan Elms; George McConachie had a rare foray forward on 52 minutes during a spell of pressure and saw his shot saved; two minutes later Miles Tomkins had a shot from a short corner saved; and on 56 minutes Ben White’s long lofted pass was run onto by Mark Turpin and his goal bound effort was deflected over the bar by a defender’s stick. The goal finally came on 63 minutes – a fine move from the back ended with JJ Burn steering the ball towards goal and Zahid Khan was able to nip in between a defender and the goalkeeper to give Bar a deserved lead.

Having spent so long in the ascendancy Bar then allowed Blueharts to take control of the final few minutes of the game. Warning signs had already been there with 5 minutes remaining with Amaan Rashid having to make a series of stops in the Bar goal. Then with a minute remaining Blueharts won a short corner and a fine strike secured an equaliser with no time left to respond.

Disappointment for Bar at the final whistle, as the second half performance had given them a chance to get off the bottom of the table, but ultimately they had to settle for their 3rd draw of the season. The team will however aim to take this much improved performance into their next game away to Brentwood.

Potters Bar 3 Blueharts 2s 3 (HT: 1-2)

Team: J McCormick (Capt), T Miller (GK) (A Rashid – GK concussion sub), G McConachie, W Clark, B White, A Patel, J Elms, JJ Burn, S Tenwick, G Fennell, M Tomkins, M Turpin, Z Khan

Goals: Miles Tomkins (4), Zahid Khan (40 and 63)

MVP: Ben White
TFC: Miles Tomkins