A 90th minute Ben Herd equaliser robbed Barnet of victory against Shrewsbury Town in a highly entertaining 2-2 draw at Gay Meadow.

Referee S. Mathieson had an early say in the proceedings, awarding the hosts a 12th minute penalty after Town's captain Kevin Sharp tumbled in the box following a challenge from Anthony Charles.

Matters got worse in the second half as both sides were reduced to ten men with Jamie Tolley and the returning Ismail Yakubu seeing straight reds. Tolley received his marching orders with a late tackle on the Bees midfielder Nicky Bailey and Yakubu saw red for a similar tackle to Robin Van Persie in Arsenal's opening Champions League group game, raising the leg and connecting in the face of the Shrewsbury attacker.

Barnet had dominated proceedings until Yakubu's dismissal and it was only down to the heroics of Town's keeper Joe Hart that the home side had any chance of rescuing a point.

The Bees passed the ball at will as the home crowd became increasingly frustrated at the referee's decisions and more importantly, their team's stuttered pattern of play.

Only 2 minutes after Colin McMenimem had converted the opener, Barnet themselves had been awarded a penalty. Nicky Bailey saw his curling effort handled in the penalty area by Neil Ashton and the midfielder stepped up to blast the ball in off the post.

Barnet had to come through a few scares before their possession paid dividends but Ross Flitney again impressed, making good saves from McMenimem and Herd.

Bailey almost doubled his tally with a scorching effort that sailed just past the upright before Louis Soares scored a memorable first goal for the Bees. A long ball saw Paul Fairclough's summer signing get in behind the defence and cut into the corner of the penalty box. The angle seemed against him but he sent a thundering effort into the far corner that left Hart stranded.

The second half was all Barnet, even before Tolley's dismissal, and better finishing would have sent the Bees home with plenty of goals to their name.

Stand in skipper Giuliano Grazioli saw one effort brilliantly saved by Hart and another go agonisingly wide. His strike partner Ben Strevens had a curling effort again well saved, as did Dean Sinclair, as the home side's defence was sliced open once again.

Damian Batt even got in on the act getting on the end of a short corner but his rasping effort went inches wide.Shrewsbury came into the second half once Yakubu got his marching orders and, piling everything forward, a long throw was headed to the back post where Herd was able to slot the ball past Flitney to salvage a point.

It was roles reversed from Saturday's game, as Barnet should have really scored four or five but were made to pay for not taking their chance. It was a superb Barnet performance, controlling the game from start to finish, only the four great saves from Hart denied the Bees a well deserved three points.

Daniel Fox