Barnet produced a sparkling performance to comfortably see off the challenge of Grimsby Town 3-1 before a good-natured end-of-season crowd in their last home match of the campaign.

The Bees were three goals to the good before an hour had been played and in-front of goal the hosts displayed a ruthless steak that had been mostly absent in recent months.

Caretaker boss Rossi Eames made three changes to his side that had won 2-0 at Hartlepool United the week before with David Tutonda, Simeon Akinola and Wesley Fonguck winning places in the starting line-up at the expense of Elliott Johnson, Ruben Bover and Fumnaya Shomotun, who all dropped to the bench.

In bright sunshine the game was initially played at a slow pace. But the Bees pushed Grimsby onto the defensive with skipper Michael Nelson having a speculative strike from 20 yards which came close to the opening the scoring in the 11th minute.

The Bees scored their first of the afternoon in the 21st minute. A direct pass out of the defence by Nelson was headed goalwards from the edge of the area by John Akinde who’d noticed that keeper James McKeown had advanced too far off his goalline.

Barnet’s Player of the Year Akinde now has 26 league goals to his credit this season.

The Bees were now exerting almost total dominance over their opponents. Barnet’s midfield trio of Curtis Weston, Fonguck and Jack Taylor were proving to be dangerous when going forward but were also quick to regain the ball when their side lost possession.

Akinola and Fonguck both spurned good opportunities and Jamal Campbell-Ryce hit the bar with a cross before Tutonda extended Barnet’s lead in the 40th minute. The left-back, who had shown a keen willingness to attack, played a neat one-two with Weston before producing a powerful strike that rippled the net leaving McKeown floundering.

Barnet’s keeper Josh Vickers, by contrast, was rarely troubled and was confined to routine saves.

Barnet’s lead became unassailable in the 53rd minute when Campbell-Ryce’s free-kick from the edge of the penalty area was not cleared and Weston was on hand to convert from close range.

That was the midfielder’s sixth league goal of the season making him Barnet’s second-top scorer.

With the game effectively over Barnet paid for a lapse in concentration when from a corner, with their defence in disarray, Craig Disley was able to poke the ball over the line for Grimsby’s consolation goal.

This slight blemish could not dampen the spirits of the Barnet faithful who have seen a resurgence in their team’s form in recent weeks and gave the players and coaching staff generous applause during a lap of honour come the final whistle.

Barnet: Vickers, Tutonda (Johnson 83), Nelson, Clough, H Taylor, Campbell-Ryce, Weston, Fonguck, Coulson (68) J Taylor, Akinola (Champion 75), Akinde. Subs not used: Bover, Shomotun, McKenzie-Lyle, Smith.