At the sound of the final whistle, Burton celebrated as if they had won the league as an injury-time Darren Stride goal gave the hosts an undeserved share of the spoils.
Barnet dominated the match throughout but missed the striking power of Giuliano Grazioli and Liam Hatch who could only watch from the stands. Lee Roache and Ben Strevens did their best, but it was tough contest against a physical Burton back line that got away with murder in challenging with Roache.
Roache did break the deadlock, towards the end of a poor first half as the combined elements of a poor pitch and some comical refereeing affected the Bees normal passing game. Roache was left unmarked to nod home Simon Clist's corner in the 40th minute in a half that the Bees just shaded.
It was not pretty to watch as the ball bobbled about all over the pitch and Barnet found it hard to adjust to the excellent surface they are used to at Underhill. Burton too found it a struggle and the first shot of the game did not come until the 20th minute. Chris Hall did well to cut inside Ian Hendon but his shot went well wide of the far post. Andy Ducros then registered the first shot on target, but his attempt went straight at Scott Tynan as chances were few and far between.
As Barnet gained momentum, the gulf in class came apparent as a number of breaks showed the hosts what they are capable of. A vicious Nicky Bailey volley deflected off Ducros and bobbled just over Dane Crane in Burton's goal and the resulting corner saw Anthony Charles head over.
The goal then arrived as Burton failed to pick up Roache at the back post to at least send Barnet in 1-0 up despite the poor first 45.
Barnet stepped up the second half with Bailey relishing his role in the centre of midfield at the expense of Dwane Lee. Lee dropped to the bench as Damian Batt started at right midfield. The other changes were forced upon Paul Fairclough as Ismail Yakubu, Grazioli and Hatch were all ruled out.
A Bailey corner, driven across the face of goal saw Roache acrobatically volley wide and the midfielder then did one better, breaking from midfield although his effort cannoned off the far post with Crane well beaten. Bailey continued to dominate the game and a lovely floated free kick to the back-post found Strevens who somehow failed to hit the target. Another effort, similar to the one that hit the post saw Bailey this time drive just wide, as Barnet just couldn't put the game out of Burton's reach.
With the game continuing to be all one way traffic a quality break saw Batt sending a rasping shot just wide of the upright. Ritchie Graham, who perhaps suffered the most due to the poor surface, did well to win possession off John Shaw and set of Bailey. Bailey broke and spread wide for Strevens who teed up Batt who summed up Barnet's afternoon by failing to hit the target.
Then out of nowhere from practically Burton's first effort of the half they equalised in the 93rd minute. Simon King or Bailey did not deal with a long throw and as the ball went across goal, Stride met it with a volley that squirmed under Tynan. The celebrations were immense and when play did finally resume, Burton regained possession and immediately broke forward. Another ten minutes of play could have been a worry but with less than a minute remaining, the referee blew up as honours ended even.
Burton will know that they were extremely lucky to get anything from a game in which better finishing would have seen them three or four down. Poor conditions and no Graz or Hatch could be an excuse but Burton were not the best side we have played this season but they come away at least knowing they have taken four points off the team that are currently 17 points clear of the Nationwide Conference.
