I'D heard a lot of good things about Bashley over the previous 12 months, culminating this week with a Bash fan telling me that watching Barry Blankley's current crop of talent was just like 'Watching Brazil.'

That was before Saturday's 3-0 reverse at the hands of high-flying Histon, so as I made my way north along the A338 towards the Raymond McEnhill Stadium I couldn't help wondering which Bash outfit was going to show up.

But after being annihilated by a slick City outfit and having Graeme Gee and Gary Connolly sent off in the process, it would be fair to say this was probably closer to Barnet than Brazil.

Bash couldn't have wished for a better start, when Danny Gibbons headed in from a superb Dave Wakefield cross with just a minute on the clock.

But after a disastrous 16-minute spell that saw them concede three goals midway through the half, it was always going to be an uphill struggle.

Bash keeper Simon Arthur was fortunate to stay on the field after bringing down City's Steve Strong in the ninth minute, and from the resultant penalty Gary Funnell levelled things up for the home side.

A combination of superb one-touch football and slack defending led to City's second on 24, with Strong eventually netting the home side's second.

After more slack work at the back from Bash, it was former Linnets man Leigh Phillips who was on target in the 28th minute with a looping header just out of reach of luckless keeper Arthur, who was responsible for City's next on 51 after misreading a regulation cross, and from the resultant corner, Strong notched his second and City's fourth.

There was nothing Bash could do about City's fifth, as the Whites strung together no less than 10 passes which resulted in man-of-the-match Strong notching his hat-trick with a sweet strike.

Just when Bash probably thought it couldn't get any worse, Graeme Gee was dismissed on 75 for a second bookable offence, as was Gary Connolly on 86, again for a second bookable to make it a thoroughly miserable weekend for Bash and after these two performances, Blankley's Barnet won't be getting any thicker.

Bash: Arthur, Connolly, Wakefield, Mk Jones, Mt Jones, Cook, Gee, Davis (Gazzard 20), Gibbons (Quirk74), Wallis (Gillespie 50), Lister.