Oldham Athletic fan's column: No goals, but an end goal

That statistic alone makes the point we gained from the goalless draw a very good point, particularly as we weren’t at our best going forward.

Being organised, hard working and tough to beat was the order of the day and we achieved that with a solid defensive display, with deserved man of the match Charlie Raglan outstanding, marshalling the backline, while Mat Hudson made a good save in each half to repel the Bees.

It was a very cagey affair overall with the free-scoring hosts not really putting us under any sustained pressure at any stage. Unfortunately, we didn’t really take the game to them either with both James Norwood and Josh Stones looking isolated up front too often.

Micky Mellon set us up to stifle the opposition and, whilst it wasn’t that we weren’t attempting to win the game, I did feel that we could have pushed on a little more and given their defence a bit more of a challenge to see how they would respond. Indeed, it was the first time this season we haven’t scored in a game as well as the first time I would say we haven’t really created any good chances too.

Micky Mellon's men ended Barnet's 100 per cent home record (Image: Thomas Lee Stacey)So whilst there was perhaps a little disappointment that we didn’t threaten more, it was a good result overall especially as Mellon correctly pointed out they still have to come to Boundary Park, giving us the chance to take more points off them towards the business end of the season.

Looking ahead, it is definitely a big run of fixtures coming up for us with a number of extremely winnable games. We are firmly ensconced in the play-offs and, despite being seven points away from the leaders, there is absolutely nothing to fear from Forest Green, who we have already beaten, and York, who despite beating Hartlepool last weekend, looked shaky at the back.

To keep the pressure on them wins against the likes of Tamworth on Saturday will be important, and I fully expect us to beat them. We’re on a fantastic run and, particularly with the arrivals of Stones and the so far brilliant Sam Clucas to get to full fitness, I still believe we can move up another gear, which will ultimately turn even more of the draws into victories and keep us moving up the table.