Edgar Davids felt his Barnet side were forced to “win ugly” at York City and the Dutchman praised the character of his players after their 2-1 victory.

The Bees fell behind in the seventh minute after a free-kick into the box was deflected into his own net by David Stephens.

However, Barnet improved after going behind and deservedly levelled when Andy Yiadom scored from close range after a John Oster corner was not cleared.

In a tight second half the winning goal arrived in the 73rd minute. Jake Hyde collected an Oster pass, held of two defenders before his powerful effort beat Michael Ingham and found the corner of the net.

The Bees ended the game with just nine men after Bondz N’Gala and Jon Nurse were both injured when the two players collided with each other and Davids praised the battling spirit of his side.

The Barnet head coach said: “I’m very pleased and sometimes you have to win ugly. We didn’t start sharply but after that first ten minutes we controlled the half.

“We didn’t control the second half but we showed character. Sometimes when you don’t have the ability to play the ball as well as we have done (because of the pitch) you have to have the ability to switch to another mode. That is what we did.

“At the end of the game we had to hold on to the three points with just nine men. But we did it and it was brilliant.”