Resurgent Barnet were held to a 0-0 draw by play-off chasing Crewe Alexandra at The Hive on Saturday, as Martin Allen's side went five league games unbeaten.

After an uneventful first-half the Bees piled on the pressure with John Akinde spurning a golden opportunity with the very last kick of the match that would have given Barnet a victory that their second-half showing had warranted.

Manager Martin Allen made three changes from the side that had battled to a 2-2 draw at Grimsby a week ago.

Bondz N’Gala replaced the suspended Bira Dembele, Luke Gambin was selected in place of Jamal Campbell-Ryce and Harry Taylor dropped to bench in favour of Sam Muggleton.

There were also changes in formation, Muggleton started at left-back with Elliott Johnson pushed further forward into midfield. The left-footed Gambin started on the right-wing with the versatile Mauro Vilhete at right-back.

In the first-half, with both sides eager to keep possession, the game was slow to ignite.

Curtis Weston, the most advanced midfielder, had a shot which tested Ben Garratt in the Crewe goal in opening exchanges, but both keepers were rarely called upon during the first 45 minutes.

Tom Champion, in the heart of the Barnet midfield, was doing an excellent just in nullifying Crewe’s creativity and then playing the simple but effective pass to a colleague.

The first period finished with Crewe largely on the offensive, with the bulk of the play confined to Barnet’s half of the pitch.

Energetic forward Callum Saunders needed to be closely watched should the inventive George Cooper and Danny Hollands manage to escape Champion’s shackles.

However, it was the Bees who should have been ahead at the interval. A tempting cross by Weston from the left was headed a fraction wide of the target by Ryan Watson.

From the beginning of the second period it was the home side who seized the initiative, pushing Crewe further and further back.

On a rare breakaway Ryan Lowe had the ball in Barnet’s net with a typical poacher’s strike but fortune favoured the Bees when an offside decision came to their rescue.

The Bees were putting together a number of well-constructed moves but top-scorer Akinde, the focal point of the attack, was being well-marshalled by the Crewe rear-guard.

The Bees introduced teenage winger Ephron Mason-Clark in the 75th minute for his League debut and Barnet immediately began to look more potent.

He immediately set about taking the ball at the Crewe defence and within minutes Akinde had flashed a shot marginally wide of its target.

In the closing minutes skipper Michael Nelson had a goal-bound headed effort from a corner saved on the goal-line as the Bees looked the most likely to break the deadlock.

And then came Akinde’s opportunity to turn a draw into a victory but his left-footed effort, despite being well placed, was miscued and before the ball had hit the stand the referee had blown for full-time.

This draw means that the Bees have extended their unbeaten run to five matches; and the clean-sheet was their first since the 22nd October.

This was a game that could have been won had the Bees managed a solitary clinical finish, but in their defence they rarely looked like conceding with Crewe leaving the Hive the happier with their point.

Barnet: Stephens, Vilhete, N'Gala, Nelson, Muggleton (Mason-Clark 75), Gambin, Watson (Akpa-Akpro 55), Champion, Johnson, Weston, Akinde.

Unused: Vickers, Togwell, H. Taylor, Akpa-Akpro, Tomlinson, Nicholls.