Barnet’s 2-0 defeat against Morecambe on Saturday epitomises the old football cliché - 'a game of two halves'.

For the first 45 minutes the Bees were the better side. They created chances regularly, forced visiting keeper Barry Roche into a series of saves and had an Izale McLeod goal disallowed for offside.

However, Lawrie Sanchez’s men did go in at the break behind as Kevin Ellison fired home in the 42 minute.

It was a goal that Barnet didn't deserve to concede, but their second period display was in stark contrast to the first.

The Bees lacked imagination; they struggled to break down a solid Shrimps defence and a shot from distance from Michael Hector was the solitary effort Roche had to save.

Jack Redshaw's goal on 62 minutes killed the game and Morecambe coasted to victory.

Sanchez once again did not speak to the press after the match but Barnet skipper Mark Hughes did give his thoughts on a disappointing afternoon.

“It’s the old cliché of a game of two halves. We didn’t take our chances in the first half and we got punished for it.

“I think we let our heads drop at 2-0 and we can’t be doing that in the position we are in.”

He continued: “The second goal killed us off. They are experienced pros and they slowed the tempo and saw the game out well. We didn’t get our tempo up at 2-0 down.

“We missed chances in the first half but we can’t make excuses and we have to keep going. We came back from 1-0 down against Port Vale and there was no reason why we couldn’t do it again. But it wasn’t to be.”

Barnet’s next two matches could have a huge impact on where they will finish in League Two this season.

The Bees host bottom placed Dagenham & Redbridge tomorrow night before travelling to Macclesfield Town on Friday.

Both sides are below Barnet in the league and Hughes admits the two fixtures are massive.

“We have a real six pointer on Tuesday night, we have to put the Morecambe performance behind us and go on to win that match,” said Hughes.

“We never make it easy here. The next two are to massive games but winnable in our minds. So we have to go out and win them and I think we can.”