Barnet made it four league wins on the bounce after overcoming nine man Crewe Alexandra 2-0.

In an eventful first half David Artell was dismissed for a foul on Izale Mcleod who scored the resulting penalty.

Then the visitor’s numbers were further reduced after Adam Dugdale was sent off for a foul on Ricky Holmes just before the break.

The Bees struggled to kill the game off in the second period but a volley from Michael Hector 15 minutes from time ensured the victory.

Lawrie Sanchez named an unchanged side while new loan signing Jordan Obita started on the bench.

The Bees started slowly and Crewe did well to press in midfield. Sanchez barked instructions to his side to put pressure on the visitors when they were in possession.

The Railwaymen passed the ball well and created good opportunities to take the lead.

A corner was whipped into the Barnet box and Dean Brill only managed to half clear with his punch. The ball dropped to Greg Pearson who took a touch a sent a shot towards goal.

The net rippled, the Crewe fans celebrated but the ball hit the side netting and the game remained goalless.

The Bees boss became frustrated with his side whose passing had been slack in the opening exchanges.

Pearson again should have done better when another cross found the striker but he this time fired over from six yards.

McLeod was finding it hard to get on the ball but just before the half hour the striker won a penalty for the Bees.

A long pass from Sam Deering over the Crewe defence was chased by McLeod and Artell miss-timed his tackle and brought down the League Two top scorer.

It was a stonewall penalty and there was worse to come for Artell who was shown a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

McLeod stepped up and comfortably fired his spot kick into the bottom right hand corner.

Going a man down didn’t seem to affect the visitors and they continued to pass the ball better than Barnet.

However, Crewe’s chances of getting anything from the game further reduced when referee Darren Sheldrake brandished a second red card.

Dugdale’s tackle on Ricky Holmes was certainly reckless, but a yellow card probably would’ve been suffice.

However, he was dismissed and the Bees went into the break in a very strong position.

Pearson was sacrificed at half time as Carl Martin came into the Railwaymen’s back four.

Despite having a two man advantage Barnet started the second half nervously and an early Jamie Lowry strike proved that the visitors were still in the game.

The Bees had been lacklustre throughout and nearly paid the price when good work from Byron Moore found Nick Powell unmarked in the box.

Fortunately for Barnet he rushed his shot and Brill watched the strike fizz wide of his right hand post. Sanchez responded by making an attacking change. Obita came on in place of Clovis Kamdjo and the winger nearly made the perfect start to his Barnet career.

After winning a corner, Obita took his place in the box and the ball drifted towards the youngster whose header was scrambled off the line.

The Bees made hard work of second half and didn’t look like adding to the marginal scoreline for long periods. However, neither did the visitors.

The introduction of Obita had livened up the Barnet attack and the Bees nearly found the goal that would give them breathing space when a deep cross found Hughes.

The skipper sent his header back across goal and hit the far post. The rebound was pounced on by McLeod but his effort was well stopped by Steve Phillips.

Sanchez had been animated on the bench throughout and with 15 minutes remaining his side finally extended their lead.

Good work from Holmes on the wing allowed him space to cross and Hector met the ball well at the back post to fire home.

The second goal allowed the Bees to finally settle and they created further chances to add to the scoresheet.

Deering first had a shot well stopped before a Mark Byrne deflected effort forced Phillips into a great save.

It wasn’t the Bees best performance in recent weeks but it proved enough to secure the win.

The Bees will be back on the road next week as they take on Oxford United.

Barnet: Brill; Hector, Downing, Dennehy, Saville, Deering, Hughes, Kamdjo, Byrne; Holmes, McLeod.

Barnet substitutes: O'Brien; Obita, N'Diaye, Hajrovic, Taylor.

Crewe: Phillips; Tootle, Dugdale, Artell, Davis; Murphy, Westwood, Lowry; Moore, Pearson, Powell.

Crewe substitutes: C.Martin, A.Martin, Clayton, Shelley, Smith.

Attendance: 2,263 (336).