Before the match a minute silence in remembrance of Oliver Kingonzila, the young Barnet player stabbed to death last Saturday was impeccably observed by both sets of supporters.
With Barnet losing by the odd goal in three it was certainly no consolation to hear that the Bury boss Alan Knill in his post match press conference say that felt that Barnet should have collected three points for their afternoon's work. None at all.
Barnet welcomed back Nicky Deverdics after a hernia operation in central midfield having been unavailable for seven matches with new signing John O'Flynn being fit enough to be named as a substitute.
The game was played in much better weather than of late, but still the sun refuses to shine on Barnet FC. After a goalless first half that could have seen either side establish an advantage, Barnet deservedly took a lead early in the second half, courtesy of an Albert Adomah strike from the edge of the penalty area, yet in the last fifteen minutes Bury scored twice to claim the three points that takes them to the top of the table.
However Lee Harrison had to be on his mettle to deny goal bound efforts by Andy Morrell and Brian Barry-Murphy in the opening moments and he kept out a header by Andy Bishop midway through the first half that could have seen the confident Shakers take the lead.
A fluid move in the 28th minute involving Adam Birchall and Adomah ended with Cliff Akurang attempting to score with an audacious back heel, but Wayne Brown in the Bury goal was equal to the task.
When Bury mounted attacks in the first period they found a Barnet defence prepared to put their bodies in the way to keep the ball out of their net, none more so than skipper Ismail Yakubu.
Ashley Carew was striking some well directed long passes into the opposition's half and looks confident coming onto the ball from deep and is certainly developing as a defender.
With the benefit of hindsight it is all too apparent that Barnet needed to establish a two goal advantage if the Bees were to record their first victory of the season. Good opportunities fell to Birchall and Akurang to do just that. Birchall, by his persistence had created a chance for himself, but could not convert it and the cross into Akurang had no pace to it, making it difficult to head the ball with power, but these were good opportunities spurned.
With ignoble irony from one such miss Bury took the ball up the other end of the pitch and equalised when the ever alert Bishop took the ball in his stride in the inside right position and drilled the ball past Harrison.
Seven minutes later Bury took the lead when Morrell had the good fortune to be the beneficiary of a series of rebounds that eventually saw his effort nestle in the back of the net.
Suddenly Bury looked like a team at the top of League 2; they were finding their men with their passes and visibly grew in confidence.
Barnet by contrast were almost in a state of shock and disbelief that having got themselves ahead and been the better of the two teams in the second half, they were now facing another defeat and despite the late intoduction of two strikers from the bench, in Elliott Charles and O'Flynn the Bees were unable to salvage even a point.
Barnet are at Grimsby next Saturday in their next quest to secure a victory, but in few games this season will they will play as well and not get something out of the game, just ask Alan Knill.
David Bloomfield.