County were unchanged from the side that beat Swansea in the cup last week. That meant Ludovic Dje retained his place up front instead of Tes Bramble.

Michael Raynes and Robert Clare, so impressive last game made up the defensive partnership.

It was Mr. Hyde who turned up for County in the opening 45 minutes; Dr Jekyll had been given a rest after last weekend.

County were at the end of some sustained pressure early on, however Raynes was the hero on a number of occasions as he cleared the ball with confidence.

The Hatter's struggled to get out of the starting blocks as very few clear cut chances were created in the opening ten minutes due to a combination of a well organised Barnet midfield and the lunchtime sunshine.

County's first noticeable attack when Easter was given the freedom to shoot on sight from the edge of his area, but unfortunately for County it floated well wide.

However, it was County who broke the deadline after 15 minutes following a messy Barnet clearance. Dje fed the ball in to the box initially, a number of players struggled to capitalise before Matty Hamshaw got to the ball from just 8 yards out to the home fans delight.

Just minutes later and Barnet were back on level terms when County struggled to clear a corner. Jason Norville was on hand to poke the ball away and silenced the home fans.

The game really opened up now and within a minute of each other Dje headed just over from a County attack and the Norville capitalised on some poor County defending by poking the ball just over the bar.

The good organisation of the Swansea game started to go out of the window as Barnet continued to cause County problems. A combination of poor communication and lack of concentrated allowed Liam Hatch the freedom to head on goal.

Heroics from James Spencer denied Barnet again, as they slowly started to pepper the home goal. Spencer first off all punched away a Barnet shot and then had to get back to his line to again alleviate the danger.

A moment of controversy in the 37^th minute nearly allowed Barnet to capitalise after a period of Bee's pressure. Briggs was bundled off the ball by Norville allowing the away side to go on a counter attack. The resulting Hatch volley grazed the far post as it went agonisingly wide.

Barnet looked organised and composed going into the break, whilst County, not for the first time this season seemed to be reaching for the self-destruct button.

There was just one change during half time with Bramble replacing Dje.

Barnet did the early running in the second half and the created the first opportunity when the headed wide from a corner.

It was County that nearly had the ball in the back of the net though, Matt Hamshaw broke free into the area and passed a sweet ball to Jermaine Easters head, he couldn't quite get the power on the ball. In the end it fell to Harpal Singh whose shot was well gathered by the Barnet defence.

At the other end Barnet clipped the cross bar following a corner ball that County struggled to defend.

15 minutes in and it appeared Dr Jeckyll was making an appearance. County started to pass with composure; Matt Hamshaw in particular started to shine as the home side started to create some good chances.

At the other end though the defence continued to be out of sorts, a mix up between Briggs and Raynes nearly allowed the Bees freedom to shoot in the box.

County were enjoying the better of things now and continued to create chances. First of all Bramble headed over from a Hamshaw free kick and then moments later Easter couldn't quite get enough power on his shot as the tricky captain fed a delightful ball into his path.

Seconds later, a brilliant Robinson ball found Easter in space. The pacy Welshman broke free and with only Flitney to beat his shot took a deflection and went behind for a corner.

Barnet had an attempt to claim all three points when Liam Hatch ran in on goal unmarked and his sweet right foot shot went just wide of the far post.

Both sides created enough to win this one, and in the dying minutes County had to desperately hang on as they first off defended a corner and then a Louie Soars attempt that went just over.

In the end it was an evenly matched contest between two sides desperate to secure more wins before they are dragged into a dogfight.

County: Spencer, Greenwood, Clare, Raynes, Robinson (Malcolm 80), Hamshaw, Briggs (Wolski 83), Easter, Singh, Dje (Bramble 45), Boshell

Subs: Ikeme, Dolan

Barnet: Flitney, Gross (Charles 67), Yakubu, King, Hendon, Bailey, Sinclair, Strevens, Soars Hatch, Norville (Grazioli 67)

Subs: Tynan, Lee, Roche,

Booked: King 54, Hendon 57

Referee: M Pike