Tshimanga double completes Barnet comeback at Prenton Park as Swindon come to The Hive
Sunday 18 October 2026 · By Laura Penhaligon
Barnet’s unbeaten league season goes on after Kabongo Tshimanga’s second-half double turned Saturday’s game at Tranmere Rovers on its head. The Bees won 2–1 at Prenton Park and now have 21 points from nine games, one behind leaders Salford City with two games in hand.
Tranmere led at half-time through Will Vaulks, whose right-footed strike on 22 minutes flew past Matthew Cox into the top corner. Dean Brennan responded at the interval, as he has done before, by sending on Romoney Crichlow-Noble and Nnamdi Ofoborh for Zac Williams and Tom Knowles.
The changes worked. On 55 minutes Harrison Male saved from Charlie Lakin, and Tshimanga reacted first to head in the rebound. Three minutes from time Lakin was brought down in the box by Bobby Faulkner, and Tshimanga stepped up to chip in the penalty. The club website counted the first goal as his sixth of the campaign.
Brennan focused on the spirit of his side. “What epitomised us today was all about our character and all about our willingness, finding a different way to win and our togetherness,” he told PA. “That is so hard to create and we’ve got it, so long may it continue.” He also paid respect to his opposite number: “Darrell Clarke has been promoted out of this division, he knows what he’s doing, so we’ve got nothing but respect for his team and his players.”
Barnet’s official match report says the club’s unbeaten league run now stretches back 18 games. That figure covers the end of last season as well as this one. This season alone, they have won six and drawn three of their nine league matches.
The win came at a cost. In stoppage time Crichlow-Noble was caught by a challenge from Tranmere’s Joel Senior, who was shown a second yellow card. Crichlow-Noble was stretchered off and replaced by Jake Reeves. Barnet have not yet given an update on his injury.
Brennan will also be without forward Jack Maskell for the next two games. The FA said in a statement quoted by BBC Sport and Bristol Live that Maskell had been suspended for three matches after admitting violent conduct in the 3–1 win at Bristol Rovers on 10 October. The incident was not seen by the officials but was caught on camera. Saturday’s trip to Tranmere was the first of those games, so he will also miss the home matches against Swindon Town and Oldham Athletic.
Swindon visit The Hive on Tuesday 20 October (7.45pm BST). Ian Holloway’s side are six league games without a win. Oldham then come to north London on Saturday 24 October (3pm BST), before the rearranged home game with York City on Tuesday 27 October (7.45pm GMT).
That is three home games in eight days. Winning them would turn Barnet’s games in hand into points, and potentially first place.
North is at the top. Away supporters sit in Stand ’66 behind the northern goal. The south end is currently open.
The Hive Stadium is Barnet Football Club’s purpose-built home on Camrose Avenue in Edgware (HA8 6AG). The Bees left Underhill in 2013 and now share a compact, modern ground with a training complex, 3G pitches and community facilities. Capacity is usually quoted around 6,500. For visiting supporters it is an easy London away day: one dedicated end, a covered view and an in-ground bar of your own.
Away fans are housed in Stand ’66 at the north end, behind the goal. The stand opened in 2016, holds about 1,900 and has no roof pillars in the sightline. Rows have a decent rake, though the very front can feel a little flat. Allocation is often the whole stand; smaller followings may be given a block in the west stand instead, so check your ticket. Turnstiles are electronic: have a barcode ready on phone or paper.
The nearest Underground station is Canons Park on the Jubilee line, roughly a ten-minute walk to the away end. Leave the station, turn left onto Whitchurch Lane, cross when you can and cut through the playing-field entrance. Queensbury (also Jubilee) is a slightly longer walk and gives you a view of the ground from the train. Edgware on the Northern line is about a mile. Matchday parking on site is first come, first served (typically around £8) for several hundred cars; Camrose Avenue has a width restriction, so coaches and wide vehicles should follow the club’s approach notes. After the final whistle the single car-park exit can queue.
Stand ’66 has its own concourse and Bar 66. It is usually open before kick-off, through the game and for a short time afterwards, with screens and drinks in plastic. The Hive Bar and Legends Bar are for home supporters. Nearby, Moranos by Canons Park station is the usual pre-match stop; many travelling groups drink earlier at JJ Moon’s in Kingsbury (two Jubilee stops away) then ride in. The site is cashless, so card or contactless is essential.
Food inside is standard matchday fare — burgers, hot dogs, baguettes — rather than a famous pie culture. Toilets are modern. Staff are used to travelling support. Bag rules change with the fixture, so travel light and check the club site before you set off. Disabled and wheelchair spaces should be booked through the club rather than assumed at the gate.
On the pitch side of things, the west side is the large amber Legends Stand, home of most Barnet noise and the TV gantry. Opposite is the smaller Hive Stand, built into the main pavilion: directors, press, padded seats, family area and the dugouts. The south end currently has no stand after the old terrace was cleared for a planned rebuild that has not yet gone up, so one goal sits in front of an open boundary. That makes the ground feel three-sided, with the away end facing space rather than a home terrace.
Atmosphere is what you make it. Prefabricated stands carry sound well when a decent away following arrives. Views from Stand ’66 are generally clean. If you want a longer look at the play rather than an end-on view, ask whether a west-stand allocation is available for your fixture. Tickets are sold online via Barnet and often on the day at the away ticket point behind the north stand, but popular games sell through.
Allow time after the match for the tube and the car park. Canons Park trains back towards central London fill quickly. The Hive is not a city-centre ground with a dozen pubs on the doorstep, but it is organised, covered and straightforward. Treat it as a proper Football League away: know which end you are in, bring a card, walk from Canons Park, and you will be behind the correct goal before kick-off.