A first-half Mark Shelton penalty was cancelled out by a second-half Michael Mellon penalty in a dramatic early kick-off that ended in a 1-1 stalemate at Boundary Park.
Dean Brennan made only one change to the side that beat Grimsby Town at the Hive, with Oli Hawkins coming into the fold.
Both sides came into the tie after positive 3-0 wins in their last outings, with the Latics boasting the best defensive record in the division.
The Bees had the advantage with only five minutes on the clock. A handball in the box saw the referee point to the spot and Mark Shelton calmly dispatched the ball past Mathew Hudson, much to the delight of the home fans booing the former Latics’ midfielder.
Our number 19 was forced off shortly after due to injury, with Anthony Hartigan entering the pitch.
On 25 minutes, Nnamdi Ofoborh drilled the ball into the feet of Ryan Glover who was in the box, but the ball had too much power on it for the wing-back to control it at his feet.
The Bees continued to dominate the first 45, with Danny Collinge heading the ball over the bar from a Hartigan corner.
With half an hour on the clock, Adam Senior danced with the ball at his feet in the area and worked his way towards goal, but his effort was blocked.
Collinge was in a dangerous position in the box again as the half continued, but this time his headed effort was frustratingly cleared off the line by Mike Fondop.
Lee Ndlovu fancied his chances following a mix up in the Oldham defence. Our number nine picked up the ball just outside the area and unleashed an effort on goal, but it ricocheted off the bar.
The final action of the half saw Cieran Slicker’s drop-kick fall to the feet of Callum Stead who was running through on goal, but he couldn’t control the ball and sent his effort off target.
Half-time: Oldham Athletic 0-1 Barnet FC
The Latics had the first chance of the second-half, but Luke Hannant’s headed effort didn’t trouble Slicker and was out for a goal-kick.
Oli Hawkins and Idris Kanu both entered the referee’s book a minute apart, before Brennan made an early second-half change, replacing Callum Stead with Emmanuel Osadebe.
Oldham made multiple changes and the momentum swung in their favour, with Joe Quigley finding himself unmarked in the middle of the box and forcing Slicker to parry the ball out for a corner.
The hosts equalised from the spot, with Michael Mellon slotting the ball past Slicker to level the score.
Mellon had a chance to give the hosts the advantage shortly after dispatching his spot-kick, with Slicker getting his foot in the way to deny the Oldham forward.
Our number 29 was in the right place at the right time a minute later, this time positioning himself excellently to gather the ball from substitute Kane Drummond’s strike.
The Bees shot-stopper was called into action yet again in another one-on-one situation and denied Melon again as the hosts continued to dominate proceedings.
The momentum switched late in the tie and the Bees thought they had the ball in the back of the net with a couple of minutes of normal time to go. Hartigan delivered a dangerous ball into the area and an Amber and black shirt got on the end of it to see the past Hudson in the hosts’ goal, but the referee waved away the goal shouts.
Nine minutes of extra time were added onto the end of the game, but neither side could find a late winner as the game ended one a piece and the Bees extend their unbeaten run on the road to four games.
Full-time: Oldham Athletic 1-1 Barnet FC
Next up for the Bees is Matchday two of the Vertu Trophy, with the Hive playing host to Brighton u21s in a 7:45pm kick-off on Tuesday night.
Line-up: Slicker, Collinge, Senior, Ndlovu, Stead (Osadebe, 60’), Kanu, Hawkins, Glover, Shelton (Hartigan, 17’), Tavares, Ofoborh
Goals: Mark Shelton (5’)
COYB