At a blustery Blundell Park Barnet were consigned to a 4-1 defeat by a Grimsby Town outfit that once they went ahead just before the half hour mark did not look like loosening their grip on the three points.

With Jason Puncheon and Michael Leary suspended and with Kenny Gillet and Adam Birchall both failing late fitness tests on the pitch before the game, Kieron St Aimie, Nicky Nicolau and Giuliano Grazioli featured in the starting line up.

Neal Bishop shot over the bar in the 3rd minute and Grazioli had at shot following a cross from Adomah from the right in the opening exchanges. However  Lee Harrison, in for the injured Rob Beckwith was called upon in the 12th minute to be alert to turn away for a corner an effort by Nick Hegarty.

Adomah was always willing to take the ball at the Mariners defence but found time also to track back and he was on hand to take the ball off Jamie Clarke when he advanced into the Barnet half.

The Mariners took the lead in the 29th minute when Hegarty played a neat 1-2 and found himself just inside the box and his left foot shot was past Harrison in an instant . Any hopes of getting to the half time interval with just a one goal deficit was thwarted when from a long throw Martin Butler was able to hold off defenders to crash the ball into the net from close range.

The Bees started the second half with renewed determination and briefly threatened. But only some ten minutes into the half a mistake by Nicky Nicolau, who took one touch too many, lost the ball to Paul Bolland who took the ball goalwards and finished expertly.

With a three goal advantage the Mariners were certainly now in pole position. A claim that a Grazioli effort had crossed the line would have narrowed the gap between the two teams but as Alan Buckley, the Grimsby manager, said after the game he never felt that his team could actually lose the match.

A Cliff Akurang header from a deep cross from Nicolau did bring the Bees to within two goals of the home side in the 78th minute. Barnet then went with three at the back to try and rescue a very difficult situation but any faint hope of clawing their way back into the game was extinguished when Andy Taylor broke away and sealed a convincing victory for Grimsby with a fine finish.

Ashley Carew did impress when he came on late on with his passing and desire to take the game to his opponents and when the ball was at the feet of Adomah you felt that something positive might result but overall this was most certainly not the Bees at their best.

The game against Chester City on Saturday now takes on extra significance. It must be hoped that Barnet can find the form that saw them so ably sweep aside Shrewsbury Town at home and also the grit to grind out a result at Notts County earlier this month sooner rather than later.

David Bloomfield