Chester City 2 Barnet 0 . . .

Lacklustre Barnet slipped closer to the dreaded drop zone after a woeful display at the Deva Stadium this afternoon.

The Bees, still to win on their travels this year, went down without a fight.

Chester were nothing special and appeared to be there for the taking. And that is what Barnet looked like they would go on to do after a bright opening. But they allowed their hosts to slowly get a grip on the match and, once City had struck in first-half injury time, the writing was on the wall.

The first half was a dour affair. Despite Barnet's promising start, City could have broken the deadlock on 24 minutes, Ross Flitney having to block an effort with his legs after Paul Rutherford had beaten the offside trap.

Ironically, Barnet's only real chance of the game came just before the Blues took the lead, Oliver Allen hitting the base of the post after cutting in from the left.

Within a couple of minutes, a deep Sean Hessey corner was knocked back into the danger area and Phil Boland headed home from close range. It was the perfect time to score and at least raised hopes of a better second half, but it turned out to be even worse.

It was all over on the hour. Ismail Yakubu gave the ball away and it was worked to Jamie Hand who drilled low past Flitney from just inside the box.

The Barnet heads visibly dropped and they tamely conceded defeat, the game petering out with the Bees unable to create even a half-chance.

Barnet are now just eight points off the drop zone with seven games to go.

BARNET (4-4-2): Flitney; Hendon, Yakubu, King (Devera 62), Gross; Cogan (Hatch 65), Sinclair, Bailey, Graham; Allen (Grazioli 82), Birchall. Subs not used: Harrison, Nicolau.

Attendance: 1,591.