Barnet slumped to their heaviest defeat of the season at the hands of Accrington Stanley after crashing to a 4-1 loss.

The home side moved into second place in the table after the win, but the Bees are now perilously close to the relegation zone, with only goal difference preventing them from being in the bottom two.

Barnet were rarely able to impose themselves and for the home side this was a routine victory.

The Barnet line-up surprisingly included Ryan Watson and Alex Nicholls, players who had seemingly been sidelined, but such is the injury crisis that has cursed their season, their experience was called upon for the tough fixture in Lancashire. Watson operated as a right-wing back.

Nicholls won a corner for the Bees in the opening minutes and his deft pass found the overlapping Mauro Vilhete with the wing-back’s cross being deflected.

This was a false dawn for the Bees as Accy soon took control, with goalkeeper Craig Ross executing a fine save from the prolific Billy Kee’s headed effort after 17 minutes of play.

Watson did manage Barnet’s first effort on target, his drive being kept out by Aaron Chapman with an unconventional two-fisted save.

The home side deservedly took the lead in the 35th minute when skipper Sean McConville weaved his way into the penalty box before unleashing a shot that found the top corner.

The Bees were then offered a lifeline a minute later when Jack Taylor was felled by Jordan Thorniley for an uncontested penalty, only for Jamal Campbell-Ryce to hit the crossbar from the resulting spot-kick.

Within six minutes of the restart, the home side had doubled their advantage as the game looked to be moving out of Barnet’s reach.

A cross from Nicholls was cleared as the home side broke quickly. Once the ball was in the box, Jordan Clark was then able to place his effort in the bottom corner.

Three minutes later Barnet briefly threatened a revival when after advancing forward, Jack Taylor pulled the ball back for Campbell-Ryce, whose shot from an acute angle found the back of the net.

Accrington took only five minutes to restore their two-goal differential.

Overplay at the back lead to possession being lost and once the ball found Kee, he showed exactly why he is the top goalscorer in League Two by drilling the ball home from just inside the box for his 11th of the campaign.

With the home side in dominant mood, the game was over as a contest when in the 64th minute Kayden Jackson outwitted Barnet’s offside trap and headed goalwards. Although his initial effort was kept out by Ross, he made no mistake from the rebound.

The rest of the match was played out with Accrington in cruise control, safe in the certainty that the points were comfortably theirs.

Barnet: Ross, Clough, Santos, Nelson, Watson, Campbell-Ryce, J.Taylor, Akinola (Mason-Clark, 78), Vilhete, Nicholls (Akpa Akpro, 65), Blackman (Tutonda, 53). Subs not used: McKenzie-Lyle, Bover, H.Taylor, Fonguck.