Barnet 0 Albion 1 MENTION promotion to Micky Adams and his players at the moment and they might just tell you to P off.

They don't want to talk about the play-offs, but their silence speaks volumes.

I will say it for them, a place in the top seven IS possible.

I wouldn't put it any stronger than that because Albion have quite a tough run-in, especially at

Withdean.

They still have three of the

promotion contenders to play at home, starting with Saturday's intriguing showdown against Adams' old club Swansea.

He believes 69 points will be enough to make the play-offs, so if his maths are right four wins, a draw and two defeats in the seven matches that remain would suffice.

That is certainly not beyond the Seagulls in their current mood. They are simply oozing confidence.

Players traditionally change shirts at the end of matches. They should have swapped before the kick-off at Underhill on Saturday.

Albion's sponsors are Skint, Barnet's Loaded. But Albion are the team in a rich vein of form, Barnet the ones on a poor run.

The narrow scoreline hardly did justice to the superiority of Adams' side over a team still occupying a play-off position.

Penetrating

Early on Scott McGleish hit the outside of a post from a penetrating cross by Darren Currie which caught Kerry Mayo napping.

The only other time Barnet threatened to score was when they were almost presented with a controversial equaliser within two minutes of falling behind.

Andy Crosby thought he had doubled their deficit by heading in a Paul Watson free-kick. The frenzied excitement of 1,700 fans drowned out the sound of referee John Kirkby's disallowing whistle as his assistant flagged for offside.

Crosby and several team-mates were still celebrating when Kirkby let play re-start instantly and Barnet mounted a break up field.

Albion were suddenly hopelessly outnumbered at the back but McGleish, a former Leyton Orient colleague of new signing Martin Ling, was foiled by Mark Walton's vital smothering save.

Walton and the team, especially the outstanding Danny Cullip, deserved a clean sheet. Walton's counterpart, Lee Harrison, did his upmost to shut-out the Seagulls as well.

Harrison, released by Adams when he was manager at Fulham, had to be hurried back from a hand injury because his deputy, Danny Naisbitt, was sidelined by a swollen knee.

He kept out an accidental goalbound diving header from his own captain, Greg Heald, in the first half and then made a smart double stop when Darren Freeman and Cullip had shots from another Watson free-kick.

Harrison could not be faulted for Gary Hart's winner, even if it was not the cleanest of strikes.

Substitute Warren Aspinall, who impressed with his passing after replacing the injured Charlie Oatway, set Hart up just inside the area.

The young striker worked the ball onto his right foot to continue his mini scoring spree with a low effort beyond the diving Harrison.

It was Hart's first away goal since Darlington way back in August, his third in as many matches and his ninth in total.

Hart occupied an unaccustomed role on the left shortly after, when Paul Brooker was withdrawn and Darren Carr introduced up front.

The goalscorer was taken off himself in the closing stages, allowing Ling the briefest of debuts.

Barnet had been reduced to ten men by that stage. Mark Arber, already cautioned for holding back Hart early in the second half, clattered into Freeman and a red card was inevitable.

Adams said: "Delighted is an under-statement. To come to a team holding a play-off place and win speaks volumes for my players.

"We dominated the game. They had one chance in the first half, when Scott McGleish was unlucky to hit a post. After that we pressed forward and Lee Harrison kept them in the game.

"Our work ethic and team spirit were tremendous. The only thing that disappointed me was the linesman disallowing a goal and nearly costing us, but Mark Walton made a great save.

"A fan told me over the last five years when there has been a huge away following the team has let them down. We were determined not to do that."

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