Ten-man Barnet fell to defeat at the hands of Grimsby Town in the first away trip of 2026 at Blundell Park this afternoon.
Jayden Sweeney’s early second-half strike separated the two sides as the Mariners leap-frogged the Bees in the Sky Bet League Two table.
Dean Brennan made just the one change to the side that beat Crawley Town on New Year’s Day, with Rhys Browne replacing Ben Winterburn.
Both sides came into the tie after a festive period which saw seven points added to the board for both the Bees and the Mariners.
The Mariners had the ball in the back of the net inside five minutes of kick-off through Jude Soonsup-Bell, but the referee was quick to blow his whistle for a foul on Cieran Slicker.
Ryan Glover did well to work the ball to the byline before cutting it across goal shortly after the early scare, but no Bees’ shirt could poke it past Jackson Smith.
A foul by Darragh Burns in the final third allowed Mark Shelton to whip in a free-kick from out on the left, but as it curled towards target, it was headed out by an amber and black shirt for a goal-kick.
As the Mariners pressed for the opener, Charles Vernam worked the ball into the area, but Joe Kizzi got an important toe in and was able to stop the winger in his tracks.
A bizarre turn of events followed, in which Joe Kizzi and Dean Brennan both saw red from referee Jamie O’Connor after Mariners’ midfielder Evan Khouri went to ground.
Once the tie restarted, Glover charged down the right-hand side and pulled the ball back into the path of Nnamdi Ofoborh on the edge of the area, who struck an effort goalwards, but it took a deflection as it headed towards Smith in the Grimsby net and out for a corner.
An early switch was made from the Bees’ bench, with Rhys Browne being sacrificed for Kane Smith with Barnet looking to bring another defensive body onto the pitch following the sending off of Kizzi.
The hosts began to pile on the pressure with the extra man and overloaded the Bees’ box on countless occasions, but the Barnet backline dealt well with the onslaught of Grimsby Town attacks.
Burns should’ve put the Mariners ahead when he found himself one-on-one with Slicker, but our number 29 did extremely well to get a strong hand to the effort and deny the hosts the opportunity to take the lead with just over half an hour gone.
The Mariners continued to progress the ball into the final third and on this occasions, Burns sent a tame effort towards goal, but it was comfortably gathered by Slicker and after eight minutes of added time at the end of the first-half, it was still all to play for as we headed into the break goalless in Cleethorpes.
Half-time: Grimsby Town 0-0 Barnet
The first chance of the second-half for Barnet came inside five minutes of the restart. Glover’s long throw was headed by a black and white shirt to the feet of Danny Collinge, but our captain could only hook the ball onto the top of the net.
Grimsby took the lead minutes later through full-back Jayden Sweeney, who slotted the ball into the left side of the goal past Slicker.
Adam Senior delivered a lovely ball into the area, and it eventually fell to Idris Kanu, but Smith stuck his leg out to deny our number 11 a great opportunity for an equaliser.
The Bees continued to push forward, with Glover sending a looping ball into the area. The ball took a huge deflection and went out for Barnet corner, but Shelton met Kane Smith’s delivery and directed it off target.
Kanu made way for Oli Hawkins who entered the action with 66 minutes on the clock.
With just over 15 minutes left to play, a mix-up with the Mariners saw the ball fall to Shelton. Our number 19 took aim from outside the area, but it was over the bar.
A final roll of the dice saw Britt Assombalonga replace Ndlovu up front as the game entered the final ten minutes.
Jaze Kabia looked like he could’ve set up new addition Andy Cook for the hosts’ second of the game late on, but the Bees eventually delt with the danger.
Eight minutes were added at the end of the game and Senior directed a couple of headers over the bar and despite a resilient display considering the circumstances, the Bees left North-East Lincolnshire empty handed.
Full-time: Grimsby Town 1-0 Barnet
Line-up: Slicker, Collinge, Senior, Browne (Smith, 19’), Ndlovu (Assombalonga, 80’), Kanu (Hawkins, 66’), Glover, Shelton, Tavares, Ofoborh, Kizzi