Barnet went down to a goal in each half by Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium this afternoon in a match that the Bees whilst getting forward on many occasions did not overly trouble the home keeper, who somewhat bizarrely was nominated as Man of the Match.
Hit by a suspension to Mark Hughes and injuries to both Joe Devera and Ryan O'Neill Ian Hendon shuffled his pack by bringing in Clovis Kamdjo in central defence and in midfield selecting Joe Tabiri and Nicky Deverdics. John O'Flynn and Albert Adomah were named among the substitutes.
In an attempt to end a run of successive away defeats Barnet set out their stall with a 4-3-3 formation with Paul Furlong, Albert Jarrett and Yannick Bolasie forming a three prong strike force, but with Guy Branston at the heart of the Brewers home defence repeatedly heading the ball away from the danger zone chances were at a premium.
Gary Breen was in imperial form for the Bees all afternoon, but even he could prevent Jacques Maghoma drilling a shot from the edge of the box after only eight minutes after the ex Spurs man had intelligently linked up with Richard Walker. Jake Cole had got a hand to the ball, but was unable to push the ball wide of the target.
The Bees playing in their purple change kit were keeping the ball well and saw efforts on goal from Nicky Deverdics, Tabiri and Ismail Yakubu go close, but rarely gave the keeper great concern, as many of the attempts were wide of the target.
Barnet got plenty of deliveries into the box but if the commanding Branston did not get to the ball first and clear the danger Artur Krysiak came and collected the ball confidently.
Certainly there were periods of Barnet dominance, with the home side on the back foot, but with a goal advantage they could bide their time and wait for the opportunity to mount a counter attack.
In the first half Tabiri had a chance to level the scores following a flowing move involving Breen and Jarrett but his first touch was too heavy and the opportunity to level the scores was gone, it was probably the best chance Barnet created during the 90 minutes.
Michael Simpson in midfield kept the home side ticking over in midfield and Jimmy Phillips was proving a handful for Yakubu who was filling-in in the right back berth.
Burton extended their lead in the 78th minute when Ryan Austin hit an unstoppable free kick into the corner of the net.
The task now was considerable and O'Flynn and Adomah were introduced in an attempt to retrieve the situation and whilst the Bees kept striving to get back into the game, Burton, with a two goal cushion, were able to keep their opponents at an arm's length.
The statistic of three defeats on the trot is impossible to deny and is a cool, hard fact, but these games have not seen the Bees outclassed and on a different day, with a different rub of the green, the outcomes could so easily have been different.
Barnet entertain Darlington at Underhill on Saturday.
David Bloomfield.