James Dunne, who completed a move to The Hive London last weekend, was given the nod as he made his first appearance in a Barnet shirt. Between the sticks, Scott Loach made his first competitive start for the Bees.
As for Yeovil, Lawson D’Ath was named in the starting line-up after the club announced his arrival earlier the same day. Romeao Hutton and Olly McCoy both joined the Glovers on loan on Friday and the former clinched a debut start whilst the latter was an unused substitute.
The first chance of the game fell the visitors’ way with just two minutes on the clock. Debutant Hutton found space in the box before unleashing a low drive, forcing Loach to get down to his right and make a smart save.
The Barnet goalkeeper produced another great stop on 19 minutes, diving to his left to deny Rhys Murphy from opening the scoring from distance.
Just shy of the half-an-hour mark, the Bees nearly put their noses in front after a cross from the left found the head of Jack Taylor but he couldn’t find the back of the net.
Just moments later, Darren Currie’s side had another chance to open the scoring. This time, Cheye Alexander whipped in a cross from the right which found Simeon Akinola but the Bees’ number 14 headed over.
Up the other end, Matthew Worthington let rip from distance but his low drive could only find the advertising boards.
In the final stages of the first half, Akinola hit the ball first-time from just outside the box but his effort bounced back off the crossbar. That proved to be the final chance to net in the opening 45 minutes as both sides returned to the changing rooms level pegging.
Akinola began the second half just how he finished the first, with a great opportunity to score. Dan Sparkes played in the forward but his shot from close range was straight at Stuart Nelson.
Soon after, the Bees piled on more pressure with David Tutonda bursting down the middle before he fizzed the ball just wide of the post.
With an hour on the clock, the referee pointed to the spot after Akinola was brought down in the box. The Barnet forward then stepped up and slotted the ball into the bottom left corner to put the hosts in front.
The goalscorer then received a round of applause from the home fans as he was replaced by Shaq Coulthirst 12 minutes later.
With just under a quarter of an hour to go, Loach produced another wonderful save. Yeovil were awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position and Murphy looked to have beaten the shot-stopper, but he dived across the goal to maintain his clean sheet.
In stoppage time, Sparkes drilled a low effort wide but it didn’t matter as the Bees held on to clinch an impressive opening day win.
Barnet now turn their attentions to Tuesday night when they travel to Sutton United.
Barnet: Loach, Alexander, Santos, Reynolds (C), Tutonda, Dunne, H.Taylor, J.Taylor, Akinola (Coulthirst), Elito (Mason-Clark), Sparkes.
Unused Subs: Matrevics, Adams, Barham.
Attendance: 1666 (553 Yeovil)
