FULL-TIME: Barnet 0 Darlington 0 . . .

Barnet edged closer to League Two safety by holding promotion-chasing Darlington at Underhill this evening.

Manager Paul Fairclough called on his defence to tighten up, and they did just that.

Neither side really created any clear-cut chances, despite plenty of endeavour, the draw the fairest result.

Barnet were forced to make a number of changes from the side that beat Wrexham on Saturday.

With Kenny Gillet and Ismail Yakubu injured, there were starting places for Jordan Parkes and Kieron St Aimie. Nicky Nicolau dropped to left-back, while Joe Devera moved to the centre of defence.

Things did not start well, with the kick off being delayed 30 minutes due to a floodlight failure.

The first chance of the game did not arrive until the tenth minute. Julian Joachim nipped in between Sagi Burton and Lee Harrison, forcing the latter to block his close-range effort, before Tommy Wright sidefooted the rebound into the side netting.

It was a tight opening, the offside flag halting most of Barnet's early forays.

The Bees had to wait 20 minutes before their first effort, Albert Adomah surging forward, but slicing his shot wide from the edge of the area.

The March player of the month was still looking as sharp as ever, his pace causing the Darlington defence lots of problems.

Midway through the half, St Aimie was set up just outside the box, his shot going straight at keeper David Stockdale, while Rob Purdie saw an effort deflected wide at the other end.

There was plenty of effort, but little in the way of goalmouth action.

Five minutes before the interval, St Aimie tried his luck with a clever overhead kick from the angle of the penalty area, the ball flashing just past Stockdale's post.

Good skill from Anthony Thomas then set up Adam Birchall, but his glancing header lacked power and was easy meat for the keeper.

Neither side had really done enough to break the deadlock and an even first period ended goalless.

The early exchanges of the second half also failed to bring any clear-cut chances.

Both teams were defending well and neither had a sniff of goal until an hour was up, a Josh Wright free-kick going straight at Stockdale.

The Bees won another free-kick midway through the half. This time Burton tried his luck, but it was again hit straight at the visiting keeper.

For the Quakers, Alan White found the side netting from an acute angle, the ball rolling away from him as he shot.

The offside flag continued to frustrate Barnet at the other end, manager Paul Fairclough making changes in a bid to shake things up.

And one of his subs almost struck ten minutes from time. Birchall crossed from the left, but Cliff Akurang was off target with his header, the striker seemingly off balance as he connected to the ball.

With one minute to go, Darlington's Jason Kennedy poked a shot just wide. while a stoppage-time glancing header from Adomah, following a Nicolau cross, flashed across the goal and into touch.

BARNET (4-4-2): Harrison; Parkes, Devera, Burton, Nicolau; Adomah, Bishop, Wright, St Aimie (Puncheon 76); Thomas (Akurang 69), Birchall (Carew 82). Subs not used: Beckwith, Porter.

Attendance: 1,678.