Grant blasts City after they left Barnet off the hook

CHRIS LAKEY

Peter Grant accused his players of a lack of professionalism last night - despite a five-goal blitz of Barnet in the Carling Cup.

It was a game of two halves if ever there was one with City five goals to the good at the break but then having to play second fiddle to their League Two opponents, who scored twice before being reduced to 10 men when Neal Bishop was sent off for allegedly elbowing Mark Fotheringham.

Grant was furious at City's no-show after the break and even launched a blast at Jamie Cureton, who marked his Carrow Road return with a brace of goals.

"There was some good play in the first half, attacking wise, but there were a lot of things I was still very disappointed with," said Grant, who saw Adam Drury limp off in the second half with an ankle injury.

"The second half was abysmal to say the least - a total lack of professionalism. It was very difficult to watch from the side of the pitch.

"I actually had to sit down because I thought I was going faint at the performance. So many wrong choices and just a lack of professionalism probably sum it up.

"Jamie is probably going to get the headlines for his goalscoring and I thought he was terrific in the first half. But he then showed a total lack of professionalism when he should have rolled the ball to David Strihavka - and that is why he didn't finish the game.

"To me it just smacks of a lack of professionalism and a lack of respect for your team."

Bishop's dismissal angered Barnet boss Paul Fairclough, who had seen two of his players - defenders Sagi Burton and Ian Hendon - suffer facial wounds after aerial clashes with City striker Chris Brown. Brown was booked for the first but within minutes of the second was replaced.

Fairclough was proud of his team, saying: "I believe this will be a defining moment in our season. We were like gladiators - the locals were baying for our blood and we put our shields up, had the daggers in our mouths and showed a lot of strength."