Barnet punished for not making hay while the sun shone as Swindon Town turn game on its head

Staying in the mix: Picture by @YTJourno

League Two

Barnet (1) 1 Shelton 9

Swindon Town (0) 2 Clarke 50, 63

Boss Dean Brennan was at pains to point out that 'nobody had died' when a reporter offered commiserations for his side's defeat to high-flying Swindon.

He was eager to stress that we had all witnessed a fine game at a freezing Hive on Tuesday night that was a 'a fine advert for the division.'

But alongside the mature, adult reflections, there are also regrets that the Bees missed out on what could have been one of the big wins of this heartening campaign.

At the interval, Barnet led 1-0 and it really should have been two or three, such was their dominance. They tore into the West Country visitors with an incredible tempo and no little skill - led by the irrepressible Ryan Glover down the right, Idris Kanu down the left and the marauding Mark Shelton.

The 'As it Stands' league table at half-time had Barnet up to eighth - just one position outside the play-offs - and an 11-point gap to Swindon narrowed to eight.

But a failure to press home the advantage came back to bite them as two goals at the start of the second half from Swindon skipper Ollie Clarke turned the game on its head - with the Bees simply unable to rediscover the rhythm which had troubled the visitors so much in the first 45.

Barnet's goal was a beauty with Kanu's ball from the left nodded back across goal by Shelton for Adam Senior to half-volley emphatically into the net past keeper Connor Ripley.

It seemed likely to herald further rewards as Joe Kizzi almost turned in a cross from the byline by Nnamdi Ofoborh, who soon after smacked a great shot from the edge of the area onto the base of a post, having also had a looping header cleared off the line.

The pace, the pressing, the combination play, the desire, were all there.

When Town finally managed to get upfield to create a half-chance, the opening half was all but done and the sizeable contingent of away fans were mocking their own side with chants of "we've had a shot".

Shelton missed a glorious chance to double the lead at the start of the second half and that was the signal for Swindon - now under the guidance of former QPR boss Ian Holloway, of course, to wake up.

Brennan is mindful his side has coughed up too many points from winning positions and he must have feared the worst at that point as his side's unbeaten run of six was brought to an end by a swift reversal of fortune.

First Clarke pounced from close-range after the Bees failed to clear their lines following a throw-in, then the same player swept a shot across Cieran Slicker from the left side of the area.

The Robins showed just enough quality to get out of trouble and the surge of confidence ensured they would keep the Bees pretty much on the back foot for most of the second half.

Barnet remain in contention, but they now have five points to make up on the play-off positions with 14 games to go. As a first crack in this division following elevation from the National League, it is proving to be an admiral effort - especially as their budget is one of the lowest.

Less than 3,000 souls made it to the Hive, more than a third of them packing the away end, and that makes it hard for them to compete. Brennan is also resigned to losing star man Glover in the summer.

But they are a good team to watch and have an identity that reflects well on a their manager who is approaching four and a half years in the job - a run matched only by ex-Brentford boss Martin Allen in the post-Barry Fry years.

Bees: (4-2-3-1) Slicker - Collinge, Kizzi (Smith 81), Tavares, Senior - Hartigan (Winterburn 69), Ofoborh - Glover, Shelton, Kanu (Howland 69) - Tshimanga (Hawkins 64)

Town: (4-1-4-1) Ripley - Snowdon, Wright (Mabete 87), Knight-Lebel, Batty (Olakigbe 55) - Kilkenny - Holman (Kirkman 87), Clarke, Borland (Nichols 68), Hoilett (Palmer 68)- Drinan

Attendance: 2,880