Barnet ended a run of three consecutive league defeats by earning a point in a hard-fought draw goalless against Coventry City, who maintained their position in the play-off spots.

With hamstring injuries sidelining forwards John Akinde and Shaq Coulthirst, Barnet boss Rossi Eames played Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro as the furthest man forward with the versatile Mauro Vilhete playing just off the central striker.

Skipper Ricardo Santos led by example and organised his back four into a determined unit that kept the Sky Blues at bay as the Bees recorded only their second clean sheet of the season.

In a game of relatively few chances, both goalkeepers were rarely called upon, although Barnet stopper Craig Ross pulled off a dramatic save to keep out a Liam Kelly piledriver from 25 yards late on.

The visitors went close to opening the scoring in the seventh minute when from a Codi Jones free-kick, Max Biamou put his header wide when well positioned.

Moments later Akpa Akpro latched onto a forward pass by Santos and his delivery into the centre was well collected by Coventry keeper Lee Burge with Andre Blackman looking to capitalise on any error.

Vilhete was a bundle of energy for the Bees. He won headers he had no right to and his enthusiasm and work ethic was inspiring his teammates to keep out one of the favourites for promotion.

Midway through the first-half, from a Vilhete free-kick, Charlie Clough tried to pick out a teammate when he could have tried his luck with an effort of his own on the visitors’ goal.

Both sides put a lot of effort into the contest but they could not find that little bit of extra guile and skill needed to break the deadlock.

The Sky Blues did put their hosts under intense pressure early in the second half. Resolute defending kept them out and even when Marc McNulty made a dangerous foray down the right, his pull back into the middle was not taken advantage of.

Biamou’s header was then easily saved by Ross and Clough blocked a goal-bound shot from McNulty.

The Bees were not able to create any genuine chances in the second period and their focus was more on defending their own goal.

Late on Jack Taylor needed to be alert to execute a goalline clearance as Coventry pushed for a late winner in front of their large travelling support.

In the final analysis a draw was a fair result with Coventry not having enough to tip the match their way and the Bees deserving something for their resilience under pressure.

Eames’ men can feel a level of satisfaction, having put an end to their losing streak and managing not to concede for the first time since mid-August.

Barnet: Ross, H.Taylor, Clough, Santos, Tutonda, J.Taylor, Fonguck (Mason-Clark 68), Vilhete, Bover (Akinola 69), Blackman (Shomotun 79), Akpa Akpro Subs not used: Nelson, Kyei, McKenzie-Lyle, Mars.