Dean Brennan happy with character shown by Barnet in big win at 10-man Fleetwood

Barnet head coach Dean Brennan hailed an “important” win for his play-off hopefuls at 10-man Fleetwood, and insisted referee Declan Bourne’s decision to send off Shaun Rooney was “spot on”.

Despite being pegged back by their hosts, an impressive last 15 minutes saw the Bees run riot and move to within four points of the top seven in League Two.

“I am pleased with the points,” Brennan said after the 5-2 triumph. “It is results time of the season so to pick up all three, especially after what happened the other day with the game against Bromley (Bromley equalising in 11th minute of stoppage time), is really important.

“We showed good character and a real togetherness. We kept going forward even after being pulled back and we got our reward.”

The dismissal of Fleetwood defender Rooney in first-half stoppage time, for a late tackle on Ryan Glover, was a talking point for both managers after the game.

“I thought the referee got the red-card decision spot on,” Brennan said. “I know their bench weren’t happy but he’s caught Gloves on the top of his knee.

“When he’s come in at half-time, he’s got stud marks on his leg, so for me it was the correct decision. We know it has changed the game a little bit in our favour but we’ve still had to work hard to get a positive result and I felt we did that.

“We’ve got four Saturdays left. We need to fill The Hive and we need everyone behind us like they were last year when we were going for the National League title. We want to make sure we give it a real go.”

Callum Stead opened the scoring soon after Rooney’s red card, with substitute Anthony Hartigan doubling the visitors’ advantage two minutes after the break.

Harrison Neal and Mark Helm (penalty) got the 10-man hosts back on level terms, before Kabongo Tshimanga’s double – one from the spot – put Barnet back in the ascendancy and substitute Diallang Jaiyesimi added number five.

Fleetwood interim boss Matt Lawlor felt Rooney’s sending-off had a big impact on the outcome.

“It is a game-changing decision,” he said. “You have to be really sure on decisions like that. I’ve watched it back a million times and I don’t think it is a red card.

“It is a decision that has really, really hurt the game and killed it, if I’m honest. I’m struggling to deal with it, if I am totally honest.”

He added: “We should be up again. I am sick of saying it every week at the moment. We should’ve been going in at half-time 1-0 or 2-0 up, regardless of the decision with the red card. It is a real hard one to take.”