It was a tense and exciting game.  Both sides played well and it could have gone either way.  However, within it there are a couple of sub stories that I think merit telling.

Firstly Barnet ‘keeper Cherie Rowlands, Cherie has been having a bit of an 'in and out' time of late.  She took a heavy knock against Queen's Park Rangers and had to come off.  Against Colchester in the fourth round she conceded the kind of goal that gives any ‘keeper nightmares and that must have seen her confidence plummet.  Like anyone who has made a mistake she must have wanted to get out there and get it behind her, instead of which the weather has given her a staccato few games.

(Cherie, pictured right. Gavin Ellis/www.tgsphoto.co.uk)

This weekend, against higher league opposition, she played a proverbial blinder.  She came and collected everything.  There was a tip over from a close range pile driver.  She kept the best until last.  With the score 3-2 in Barnet’s favour she made a fabulous save plunging low to her left; a save that she had no right to make.  Every game has a crucial point and that was it in yesterday’s.  At that point the game was in the balance as a resurgent Forest pressed to come back for a third equaliser.  That was the high watermark of Forest’s efforts.  That save with ten minutes to go seemed to break their collective heart.  Barnet saw out the rest of the game in control.

Anyone can play well when things are going their way but it takes a special type of character to work through tough times and produce the goods when it counts.  Cherie can look at the game and have confidence in herself not only as a keeper but as a character.

The other was the performance of Barnet midfielder Kate Holmes.  The adjective most used about Kate is combative.  She likes a tackle and rarely comes out second.  Against West Ham she had been sent off for two bookable offences.  The first was fair enough.  The second was harsh as she played the ball and only the ball.  However, to quote Alan Hansen, “she gave the ref the opportunity to make a mistake” by coming off her feet in a challenge when she was on a yellow card. 

(Left, Kate tracks West Ham's Carly Roache. Gavin Ellis/www.tgsphoto.co.uk)

On Sunday, she played a stormer.  She and her partner, the super-industrious Claire Thomas, gradually throttled the life out of Forest’s talented and lively midfield and set many a good Barnet move in motion. Claire even managed a goal.  Kate had learnt her lesson.  The work and the tackles were still there but she stayed on her feet; no fouls, no mistakes.

Two triumphs in two different ways; one of character to recover when things have gone against you and the other of maturity and nouse in recognising your errors and not repeating them.

Watch highlights of the game at http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFAWomensCup/NewsandFeatures/2010/barnet-forest-video-080310.aspx