A goal down in five minutes, two down on twenty-five and what with Rotherham United establishing a three goal advantage on the hour Barnet never established a foothold in a match that brought to an end an unbeaten run in the league that goes back to the first day of the season.
Ian Hendon reintroduced Joe Devera, Kenny Gillet and Daniel Leach at the expense of Ryan O'Neill, Ahmed Deen and Ahmed Deen, with Nicky Deverdics replacing the unavailable skipper Micah Hyde in central midfield. Paul Furlong returned from suspension to lead the attack, Jake Hyde dropping to the bench and Albert Adomah started, replacing Yannick Bolasie.
Rotherham with the on looking presence of new boss Ronnie Moore acting as a motivating factor were quick out of the blocks and the Bees were on the defensive from the first.
In the fifth minute Adam Le Fondre burst down the right flank and with his low cross not being dealt with, the alert and faster-reacting Kevin Ellison bundled the ball over the line.
Stung into action the Bees enjoyed a short spell of dominance when the home team was put under pressure. Devera in an advanced position delivered a teasing centre and an Albert Jarrett shot was well saved by Andy Warrington in the Miller's goal; but this flicker of hope was to be extinguished when Nicky Law broke free and calmly lofted the ball past Jake Cole on 25 minutes.
The home side were now in the ascendancy and had control of the proceeding, despite the sterling efforts of stand-in skipper Mark Hughes to link the elements of his team into a whole.
With 60 minutes gone Le Fondre found himself free and heading goalwards with his cool finishing giving the home side an unassailable lead. The task of Barnet forcing their selves back into this match was now almost impossible.
John O'Flynn flashed a header marginally wide of the mark, but this was one of the few chances Barnet managed to create in the second half.
The home side were able to move into cruise control for the last half an hour. The scoreline did not get worse for Barnet, but the Bees were being kept at arms length by the home side.
In conclusion this was Barnet's least impressive performance of the season. In mitigation Micah Hyde was solely missed, as was the experience of the unavailable Gary Breen, and Rotherham are exceptionally strong contenders for an automatic promotion spot, yet the performance was such that Ian Hendon immediately called his players in for extra training and a de-briefing on Sunday.
Barnet face inform Dagenham & Redbridge this Tuesday at Underhill.
David Bloomfield.