Three goals in nine second-half minutes were enough for Barnet to overcome Cheltenham Town 3-1 and secure Kevin Nugent’s first victory since he took charge at The Hive.

Trailing to a Danny Wright goal after 16 minutes, Barnet were in trouble until Curtis Weston came on just before the hour, with the midfielder instrumental in turning the game around.

The Barnet line-up showed four changes to the side that had been disappointingly beaten by 10-man Notts County the previous weekend.

Keeper Jamie Stephens was deemed fit enough to replace Benji Buchel who was on international duty for Liechtenstein, and Charlie Clough and Luke Coulson won recalls with forward Shane Cojocarel making his full debut.

Ricardo Santos, Simeon Akinola and Mauro Vilhete were the outfield players to miss out on a place in the starting 11.

Barnet immediately put the visitors under pressure with Jamal Campbell-Ryce and Cojocarel prominent.

This promising opening was not to last for long and it was no surprise when the visitors took the lead. From a Barnet goal kick the ball was headed back by a Cheltenham defender into the path of the unmarked Wright who steered the ball into the corner of the net.

Cojocarel was forced to leave the pitch with a nasty injury to his arm and with him went Barnet’s most inventive player. The diminutive forward had impressed with his willingness to run at opponents and his intelligent passing.

Barnet, now lacking in confidence, were unable to put the visitors under any pressure in the remainder of the half. The nearest they came was a weak header by Bira Dembele in the 40th minute which did not trouble Robins’ keeper Scott Brown.

Barnet then had Stephens to thank for not going further behind when he parried a shot from Liam Davis, who had made inroads into the Bees’ defence.

The Bees were playing against a swirling wind and the ball did not run smoothly on the playing surface - but the half-time whistle was unsurprisingly met with jeers and boos.

The home side did not show any improvement in the early stages of the second-half. Passes were still going astray and free-kicks were being under-hit.

The Bees continued to look vulnerable at the back and rarely posed a goalscoring threat.

Barnet then had another scare when a Carl Winchester strike hit the bar with the ball eventually being cleared for a corner.

Weston replaced the ineffective Tom Champion with almost an hour on the clock and his impact was immediate.

The midfield now looked more cohesive, providing cover for the defence and support for the attack.

The Bees drew level in the 70th minute when a Campbell-Ryce cross into the middle was punched away by Brown to Akinola, before the Barnet substitute astutely set up the advancing Weston, who powered the ball home from 10 yards.

Amazingly the Bees went ahead seven minutes later when a Campbell-Ryce corner was headed goalwards by Clough with John Akinde getting the last touch.

With the Robins’ rocking Akinde, with his 23rd League goal of the campaign, put the game beyond doubt two minutes later when he latched onto a long ball forward and calmly found the back of the net as keeper Brown rushed out the narrow the angle.

Barnet then had two penalty appeals turned down as they finished the match in control of a fixture that had, for long spells, looked beyond them.

While the win is more than welcome after a long wait Barnet will certainly need to reflect on the relative weakness of their opponents.

For long periods the visitors looked the more likely to claim all three points until the crucial intervention of Weston.

The quality of the opposition in the next two weeks, in the form of Stevenage and Luton - who both occupy play-off spots - will undoubtedly provide sterner tests.

Barnet: Stephens; Clough, Nelson, Dembele, Tutonda; Coulson (Amaluzor 70), Champion (Weston 56), Watson, Campbell-Ryce; Cojocarel (Akinola 23), Akinde.

Unused: Johnson, Santos, H Taylor, McKenzie-Lyle.