Barnet may have ridden their luck on occasions, but a goal from substitute Alex Nicholls six minutes from time gave caretaker-boss Rossi Eames the perfect start to his tenure in charge of the Bees with a 1-0 win at Yeovil.

Following the surprise departure of Martin Allen to Eastleigh, the management team of Eames and Harry Newman gave a league debut to teenager Jack Taylor at right-back.

They also kept faith with another product of the youth-set-up, with Ephron Mason-Clark lending support to top-scorer John Akinde up front.

Barnet were the first to settle, looking composed and confident from the off, with Taylor impressive with his distribution and his determination to get forward at every opportunity.

Yet it was the home side who were the first to threaten after only five minutes when Ryan Hedges hit a fierce shot from 20 yards which keeper Jamie Stephens did well to palm up and over to concede a corner.

Both sides were having difficulty creating openings in the first-half with much of the play confided to the midfield, but the Glovers' attacking left-back Ryan Dickson was always a danger with his willingness to advance into good crossing positions.

After the break and with the elements now in their favour, Yeovil had the Bees on the defensive with Stephens looking uncharacteristically uncomfortable as the ball was repeatedly pumped into the box.

The towering Yeovil striker Thomas Eaves should have scored in the 56th minute with a close-range header that thumped against a cross-bar as the home side tried to turn their territorial advantage into a lead.

Although Barnet were on the back foot they did occasionally break out and look threatening.

The Bees almost took the lead against the run of play when a tempting cross by Luke Gambin was nearly converted by Akinde but Barnet would again enjoy a slice of good fortune when a shot from the impressive midfielder Otis Khan crashed against the bar.

Akinde then looked set to give the Bees a lead when he pulled away from the Yeovil defence but his heavy touch saw the ball collected by relieved keeper Artur Krysiak.

These were the signs that if the rearguard could keep Yeovil at bay then a breakaway goal could come Barnet’s way.

Skipper Michael Nelson and Bira Dembele were an effective and combative pairing in central defence and Stephens, having regained his composure, gave the Barnet backline a sound feel about it.

The winning goal was a well-worked affair. Akinde found Curtis Weston, who surged goalwards before a well-measured pass into the path of Nicholls enabled the substitute to find the corner of the net with a drilled effort.

With the victory almost in sight, Khan was denied by Stephens in a one-on-one, with the Bees determined not to let their lead slip.

The woodwork did come to Barnet’s rescue on two occasions and they did score with their only shot on target – but this was a sound performance and Eames’ team would have been unfortunate to leave the West Country without a reward of some kind.

Barnet: Stephens, Taylor, Dembele, Nelson, Johnson, Vilhete, Champion (Nicholls 60), Weston, Gambin (Muggleton 82), Akinde, Mason-Clark (Akpa-Akpro 66).

Unused: Watson, Vickers, Sesay.