A delighted Dean Brennan praised the exceptional performances of his players after Barnet comprehensively beat National League strugglers Dorking Wanderers 6-0 at the Hive on Saturday.
Nicke Kabmaba, Gatlin O'Donkor, Callum Stead (2), Dale Gorman and Zak Brunt netted in the rout to keep Bees in second place.
But Brennan chose to talk about Chesterfield first in his post-match media duties - and spoke in glowing terms of the champions.
“First and foremost, I want to congratulate Chesterfield for winning the title,” he told the club website.
“Paul Cook’s done a fantastic job there. His staff, his players, and everything else that goes into winning a title. They’re the best team, and they have been all season.
"They fully deserve to win the title, and they’ve done it with five games to go. It’s an amazing achievement.”
On the endeavours of his own side, Brennan pointed to the aggressive nature and intent the Bees showed from the first whistle.
“It’s a fantastic result. We got on the front foot; we played three up front, and we went after them. Our power and pace up front, they couldn’t handle it,” he added.
“In the second half, the game has petered out, but we tried to pass it a bit better. We came into today's game missing three centre-halves - no (Adebola) Aluwo, no (Adam) Thompson, and no (Connor) Stevens, so we had to play two centre-halves and we went with full-backs, so good adaptability from us.
“What we did brilliantly was we made loads and loads of tackles against really tricky opposition because they are really attack-minded. Marc (White) really likes his teams to go and get after you, so we had to stop that, and we did that really well.”
Citing the return of key players such as Danny Collinge and club captain Dale Gorman, the Bees boss also how important the pair had been to lifting spirits at the Hive.
“I was really pleased with the performance all in all. Key players are back for us. Collinge is huge for us, and Gorman is huge for us. They make huge improvements to the team,” said Brennan.
“It’s a great day. There aren't many times when you win 6-0, so we’ll enjoy tonight, dust ourselves down, and go again.
"Our supporters were brilliant. That’s what we want to see - the Hive was buzzing. They gave us a boost, and all in all, it’s a fantastic day for our club.”
The Bees have often been profligate in front of goal this season, but Brennan refused to be drawn on the negatives and praised his frontmen after all three forwards got the scoresheet against Dorking.
“We had lots of chances and loads of efforts on their goal. We could've played with a bit more penetration at times, but we went more direct, but I felt that our front three could cause them problems with their power and pace,” he said.
“No disrespect to their centre-halves, but they lack athleticism, and we’ve got plenty of that in abundance. We weren’t as intricate as we usually are in our build-up play, but we were very direct and got after them, so it’s great for everybody as we shared the goals around.”
Brennan’s side will look to consolidate their push for automatic promotion to the Football League, with a visit to Solihull Moors on Good Friday before facing Oxford City at home on Bank Holiday Monday.
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