Saints recorded a 1-0 victory over Barnet at Underhill, with Joseph Mills netting the winner in the second half.

Alan Pardew used the match as an opportunity to take a further look at some of the fringe members of his squad, and will be pleased that Saints came away with a comfortable win under their belts.

Ryan Dickson started at left back, having recovered from a knock suffered at Sutton, whilst there were also starts for youngsters Aarran Racine and Jordace Holder-Spooner. Preston North End midfielder Darren Carter started in the middle of the park.

Saints: (4-4-2)
Davis (Bialkowski 45). Butterfield (Harding 45), Martin, Racine, Dickson (Reeves 81). Holder-Spooner (Doble 45), Carter, Hammond (Wotton 52), Mills (Robinson 77). Oxlade-Chamberlain, Barnard (Holmes 67).

Subs (not used): McNish, Tafazolli, Hoskins

Barnet:
Cole, Devera, Uddin, Leach, Parkes, Poole, Byrne, Jarvis, Southam, Holmes, Kabba

Att: 851

On a wet night in North London both sides flew out of the traps in what would prove a relatively high tempo first forty five minutes. Saints were playing the ball around nicely, and Lee Barnard in particular was chasing down and harassing the Barnet back line on a regular basis.

The match sprang to life in the tenth minute as Jordace Holder-Spooner released some youthful exuberance in the centre of the park, going in late on Jarvis with a tackle that would have perhaps had more severe consequences had the match not been a friendly.

With constant drizzle falling from the skies, the pitch was proving to be quite slick as Saints continued to attack their League Two opponents. Joseph Mills and Ryan Dickson in particular made the most of the conditions as they repeatedly doubled up down the left flank causing the Bees all sorts of problems.

Just after the quarter hour mark Saints had their first effort of note, as the ball broke to Danny Butterfield twenty-five yards out, however, his shot sailed harmlessly wide of the left hand post.

Carter was impressing in midfield with his range of passing, and it was the North End midfielder who was next to advance down the notable slope towards Barnet's goal. Picking up the ball in the centre circle he skipped past two defenders before playing in Dickson down the left, but the former Brentford defender's run was halted twenty yards from goal. The resulting free-kick was slammed into the wall by Mills, deflecting out for a corner that came to nothing.

As the half hour mark approached it seemed to be a matter of when, not if Saints would open their account. The one hundred or so Saints fans behind the Barnet goal were on their feet as Lee Barnard cut in from the left on the edge of the area, but his curling right footed effort flew agonisingly wide of the post.

That seemed to serve as a wake up call to Mark Stimson's men, as they went close to taking the lead just minutes later. A freekick on the left was swung in deep to the back post, where Uddin rose highest to nod a looping header goalbound. Kelvin Davis in the Saints goal had to be on top form to back peddle and tip the effort over the crossbar.

Carter was back in action as the half drew to a close, Oxlade-Chamberlain's cross to the back post was headed clear by a Barnet defender, but only as far as the former Birmingham man, who picked the ball up on the edge of the area and curled a left footed effort just over the bar.

Trialist Darren Carter gets a run out

Half Time: Barnet 0-0 Saints

Pardew made three changes at half time, Bartosz Bialkowski, Dan Harding and Ryan Doble replacing Kelvin Davis, Danny Butterfield and Jordace Holder-Spooner as Saints chased the goal their first half play had deserved.

The second half started much in the same vein as the first, with neither side pulling out of a challenge as they chased the opener. Barnet went close twice within five minutes as first Ricky Holmes dragged his right footed effort wide before Glen Southam shoot straight at Bialkowski.

Saints finally took the lead on fifty-one minutes. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain cut in from the right wing, but was halted as he ran into a host of Barnet defenders, fortunately though the ball broke through to Joseph Mills who composed himself before firing in from six yards to make the score 1-0, despite false claims of offside.

Rather than open the floodgates as the Saints fans may have hoped, the goal seemed to have the opposite effect on both sides, as it took the sting out of the game. As is often the case with pre-season friendlies, the match soon ended as a contest once both managers began to make a host of substitutions.

The gaffer gave cameo appearances to youngsters Ben Reeves and Andy Robinson as the clock ticked down, with Reeves standing out in particular, following on from his impressive turnout at Farnborough last week.

Elsewhere, Aarran Racine looking strong and composed at the back alongside Aaron Martin as the defensive partnership completed the full ninety minutes, and will certainly have left the manager with some food for thought as the start of the season fast approaches.

Pardew and his coaching team have been drilling into the players the importance of being professional enough to pick up wins on the road against teams who are unwilling to roll over and give up without a fight, something Saints are certain to come up against in the next twelve months, so the result against a stubborn Barnet side will have proved another useful exercise for the squad.

Full Time: Barnet 0-1 Saints