Burton Albion 2 Barnet 0 (From Times Series)

Burton Albion 2 Barnet 0

5:05pm Saturday 17th October 2009 in Sport

Barnet suffered a second consecutive away defeat to slip out of the play-off places.

They started the day in seventh spot, but another disappointing display on their travels will have given boss Ian Hendon much food for thought.

Goals in either half were enough to see off the visitors, Burton continuing their impressive start to life in the Football League following promotion from the Conference in May.

Barnet manager Hendon decided to leave star players Albert Adomah and John O'Flynn on the bench. There were starts for three fringe players - Clovis Kamdjo, Nicky Deverdics and Joe Tabiri, as Hendon attempted to shake things up a little after last week's 2-1 defeat at Rochdale. However, some changes were enforced, with Mark Hughes suspended and Joe Devera injured.

Things could not have started worse for the Bees. They found themselves a goal down after just eight minutes, Jacques Maghoma finding the bottom corner from just outside the area. Keeper Jake Cole did manage to get a hand to his well-hit drive, but could not keep the ball out. After a poor first half that cost Barnet dear last week, it was the last thing Hendon wanted.

The Brewers, not surprisingly, were lifted by the goal and Barnet had to defend well to prevent a second, as the hosts attempted to put the game to bed early on.

However, Barnet slowly began to get a foot in the game, and started to create things themselves.

Tabiri had the visitors' best first-half opening, while defender Ismail Yakubu also found himself in some good positions in less familiar territory at the other end, but neither could find an equaliser before the half-time whistle sounded.

The onus was on Barnet to push forward after the interval, but they struggled to get going and chances were few and far between.

Hendon acted by bringing on sub Jake Hyde on the hour mark, Hyde having scored after coming off the bench at Rochdale last week.

He had grabbed a lifeline then, and the Bees were in desperate need of one again, the match drifting from them.

With 18 minutes to go, O'Flynn was also thrown into the fray, though, in truth, it was the hosts who looked more like scoring, Barnet continuing to struggle to test the home keeper despite enjoying a lot more possession.

And the killer second did finally arrive on 78 minutes, a fierce Ryan Austin free-kick from long range this time getting the better of Cole and sealing the points for the Brewers.

Not even the late appearance of Adomah from the bench could save the Bees from their fate.