Martin Allen celebrated winning September's manager of the month with a hard fought victory over fellow high-flyers Morecambe.
In a game which was book-ended by rain, two goals in the second half allowed Barnet to scrape a win against a lively Morecambe.
Allen was first to recognise that Morecambe had pushed his team hard at Underhill: "They will definitely be in the play-offs at the end of the season," he said. "We didn't function as well as I'd hoped and we weren't very fluid." He admitted however that although he was unhappy with Barnet's performance he was "very happy with the result" against a Morecambe team who had been undefeated in their last seven games.
The game was only 30 seconds old when a defensive mix-up allowed Ben Strevens the easiest of tap-ins to give Barnet the lead.
The away team were the tidier team of the two however and went close 15 minutes later when a Dave McKearney header flashed wide.
Morecambe's problems really began when captain Stewart Drummond hobbled off after 20 minutes and the away team started to lose their shape in defence.
Five minutes later Ian Hendon drove home a 16-yard volley from a Joe Gamble corner to double Barnet's lead and put them in control at half time.
After only seven minutes of the second half, Morecambe's afternoon came to an end when Wayne Curtis was sent off for a foul on Mark Williams.
The referee was left with little choice after Curtis had picked up an earlier yellow card in the first half.
Barnet began to exploit the extra space, but Morecambe moved up a gear pulling a goal back on 59 minutes when Gary Thompson slotted home from six yards.
It was not enough as Barnet held out to keep Allen happy.