Barnet head coach Martin Allen accepted his side were completely outplayed by Halifax Town and said he was shocked, surprised and disappointed after the Bees’ 4-0 defeat.

Scott Spencer grabbed a brace while Lee Gregory and Lois Maynard also struck for the Shaymen who thoroughly deserved their win.

The loss has all but ended Barnet’s bid for the Skrill Premier play-offs and Allen said Halifax were “far better” than his side at The Hive.

Allen explained: “From their first attack, they’ve gone ahead and from that point on we were completely outplayed.

“It was quite comfortable for them and they were far better than us today.”

He continued: “With all respect to the players and staff, they’ve been superb since I’ve been here. We had played four games and got two wins and two draws.

“The players have acquitted themselves very well but today we were well below it.”

Barnet had made a bright start but fell behind in the sixth minute when Spencer turned the ball home after Gregory’s shot was saved by Stack.

From then on, Halifax dominated.

“We lost confidence and energy,” Allen said. “I’m very shocked and surprised and really disappointed.

“We had a fantastic opportunity, we win here and a win next week would’ve set us up for that live game against Braintree.

“I suppose when you do get close to where you want to be, the pressure can affect players’ performance. And it does, whether we like it or not.

“It looked today like too many of our players had heavy legs.”

He added: “We prepared well for this game but for one reason or another we didn’t have the legs, the energy, the confidence and the self-belief the players have been playing with.

“For one reason or another we’ve come up short. We have to settle down now and get ourselves ready for Nuneaton next week and then Braintree.”