Martin Allen praised the effort of his Barnet team in closing out a 3-2 win over Notts County at The Hive this afternoon to move within goal difference of the EFL League Two play-off places.

Goals from Luke Gambin (2) and Bira Dembele clinched the Bees’ second win of the week – following the 2-0 triumph at Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday – and extended their unbeaten league run to seven.

Speaking afterwards, Allen said: "The team played very well. Of course when they had that chance to go 2-0 up and it went just the other side of the post I took a deep breath – it was a relief.

"Notts County have won five games away from home – including at Portsmouth – and they have some dangerous players so it was a tricky game. 

"After that we applied ourselves very well and our team was very strong.

"In the last ten minutes they had a brilliant shot. I was right behind it and it moved – I think Jamie Stephens did well to save it – it could have been a very scary ten minutes but we defended with discipline and defiance. 

"We didn’t give them any opportunities to get near our goal and that is a skill in itself; we have been working on it on the training pitch."

Allen handed 17-year-old Academy scholar Ephron Mason-Clark his first league start and the exciting forward, who was replaced by Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro in the second half, caught the eye once more after his league debut against Crewe Alexandra last weekend. 

"It was great to see another 17-year-old making his debut for our club – young Ephron, who I thought played very well," said Allen. 

"It was always going to be a question of getting to that 60-65 minute mark and we all know what John Paul (Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro) can do when he comes on.

"I don’t know what he’s going to do and I don’t think he knows what he’s going to do! He’s like a box of frogs, anything could happen."

Finally, Allen offered special praise for the support of the Bee Army who had The Hive rocking to usher in another three points at Notts County’s expense.

He said: "The last thing which made it special today was the music – the music from the far side. Someone turned the volume up and they kept singing that same song. I enjoyed the music."

You can watch Martin’s full video interview below: