December dawned with the Bees second from bottom and a 2-1 defeat atOxfordkept them there, Mark Marshall scoring Barnet’s goal. The following Saturday saw the visit of Accrington Stanley and the long awaited first start for Izale McLeod and he didn’t disappoint scoring both goals in a much needed 2-0 win, the second a stunning goal after picked the ball up just past the halfway line and finishing well after a devastating run. However, it was not really a good team performance as Accrington wasted many good scoring opportunities. The win did bring Barnet level on points with Lincoln City though.
With two home matches over the festive period against fellow strugglers, Aldershot andStockportCounty, Barnet had the chance to move away from the relegation zone. However, the Bees slumped to defeat in both games; 3-1 toStockportand 2-1 to the Shots. Izale McLeod scored in both games but it proved to be the end for manager, Mark Stimson who was sacked after theAldershotgame on New Years’ Day. Once again, Paul Fairclough took up the reins but he didn’t have enough time to prevent as third consecutive defeat at Stevenage as the ‘Borough’ completed the double over the Bees winning 4-1, Mark Marshall scoring the Bees’ goal as they slumped back to the bottom of the table.
However, the following Saturday, Barnet won their first away match of the season at Bradford City, ironically so soon after the departure of Stimson who had failed to gain an away win at Gillingham and Barnet in a year and a half. Barnet gave a superb second half performance after being a goal down at half time with Izale McLeod outstanding. An own goal, a first Bees’ goal for Anwar Uddin and a fine Ricky Holmes finish gave the Bees a win that lifted them out of the bottom two. The game also saw the debut of goalkeeper, Liam O’Brien signed from Portsmouth.
However, the rest of January was not so good for the Bees. The following Saturday, the Bees were very fortunate to scrape a 1-1 draw at home to promotion chasing,ShrewsburyTownwho missed a lot of chances to finish the game off before Charlie Taylor grabbed a late equaliser, his first for the club. John Dunleavy, a young full back from Wolves made his debut as a substitute. Barnet drew the next two games too, away at Macclesfield (1-1, McLeod scoring) and Port Vale (0-0) Midfield player, Tommy Fraser arrived from Vale and made his debut at Macclesfield. Three consecutive draw may have been a slight improvement in form but it saw the Bees slip back to second from bottom. Moreover, though only one point separated the bottom five clubs, Barnet had played more games than all the teams immediately above them; 6 games more than Burton Albion.
A busy January ended with a disappointing 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Southend United who thus defeated the Bees three times in three matches during the season. The change of manager had not brought about the upturn in the teams fortunes that had been hoped for with just one win in six matches and Barnet remaining in the relegation zone.