St Albans City fielded two contrasting sides for each half of Tuesday’s friendly with a youthful Barnet at Clarence Park and slipped to a 3-2 defeat in a match rich in entertainment and brimming with goals of the highest order.

Joint-City manager James Gray, speaking after the game, said that he learnt a lot from the 90 minutes and one would imagine that he most certainly did, as City, particularly during the first half against a Bees side containing seven First teamers, played their most enterprising football thus far.

Unfortunately it was a vastly different story after the break, as a new-look City XI played second fiddle to a Barnet team that, for just short of 30 minutes, was pretty much the Bees Under-18 side.

Having failed to score in their opening three matches, City at last started in positive mood although a shot into the side-netting in the first minute by the well-placed Michael Malcolm suggested that problems in front of goal remained.

Malcolm had been teed up by former Cambridge United, Cambridge City and Hemel Hempstead midfielder Luke Allen who was in exceptionally good form and whipped several fine crosses into the Bees penalty area.

Barnet were quickly onto the front foot themselves but received an expected helping hand for the opening goal on ten minutes.

Ashlee Jones, the former Fisher, Boreham Wood and Lowestoft custodian, misjudged a long throw from the Barnet right by Sam Muggleton, and could only look on as the ball sailed over his head and was headed home by Michael Gash.

Allen almost pulled City level only for the sprawling Barnet keeper Kai McKenzie-Lyle to divert the ball wide with his foot.

The attacking nature of the game continued and on 22 minutes a typically sweeping move ended with Malcolm sliding the ball into the path of Simon Thomas.

After a wait of 292 minutes this summer Thomas at last gave the home supporters a goal to celebrate by smartly driving low into the Hatfield Road net from 18 yards.

On the half hour good play down the City right by John Kyriacou opened the way for James Comley to float a cross to the back post.

Thomas met the ball with a clean header that McKenzie-Lyle pushed onto his left hand upright; the Bees keeper got to his feet swiftly and just in time to palm over the bar Sam Corcoran’s rising follow up effort.

Lee Chappell swung the ensuing corner deep into the six-yard box where Thomas, quite unbelievably, miscued and a simple chance went begging.

But the reprieve was short lived for the Bees as City added a second goal on 34 minutes with Kyriacou again involved.

The City right-back pulled a pass inside to Allen who in turn found Malcolm with a short pass and the striker calmly placed a shot across the Bees keeper.

The Saints went close to adding a third before the interval when McKenzie-Lyle was deceived as a Corcoran shot took as deflection.

The keeper fumbled the ball onto his left hand post but did extremely well to spread himself and block Thomas’s follow up when it appeared a formality that the former Chesham forward would score.

St Albans changed all ten outfield players for the second half and included Jack Lampe, a summer signing from Concord Rangers, in their side for the first time, as he gets over a chest infection.

City began the half promisingly with Steve Wales testing the visitors keeper with a couple of efforts from outside the penalty area, but as the game wore on Barnet began creating openings with alarming frequency.

The game had been pacy throughout but when Barnet packed their side with youngsters on 63 minutes then City really did have their work cut out.

After squandering a couple of decent openings Barnet took the lead on 68 minutes with a goal that was worthy of a far greater stage than a pre-season friendly.

Jack Taylor, highly influential in the Bees midfield following his introduction on 63 minutes, fed the ball up Shaun Batt towards the edge of the home penalty area.

Batt, who made two appearances for City almost nine years ago, was forced to move away from goal and out towards the left touchline.

But with a quicksilver turn Barnet’s recent capture from Leyton Orient – he only joined Barnet on 9th July – smashed an angled right footed drive high across the static Ashlee Jones and into the far corner of the net.

Even Jimmy Gray was moved to applaud the outstanding strike.

Three minutes later and Barnet had regained the lead with another excellent shot, this time by Taylor from 25 yards, following a poor ball out of defence by City’s 20-year-old central defender David Longe-King.

The performance of Barnet’s youngster was quite eye-catching but St Albans can take a lot of heart out of the game and they so nearly snatched a draw in the final minute when Kieran Bishop shot low to McKenzie-Lyle’s right, but the keeper did well to get down and push the ball away for a corner.

St Albans City (1st Half): A.Jones, J.Kyriacou, L.Chappell, O.Beckles, J.Comley, D.Locke, L.Allen, S.Corcoran, M.Malcolm, S.Thomas, L.Hilliard.

St Albans City (2nd Half): A.Jones, K.Bola, M.Richens, D.Longe-King, J.Lampe, D.Green, H.Hall, S.Wales, R.Young, B.Medlock, K.Bishop.

Barnet (1st Half), K.McKenzie-Lyle, H.Taylor, J.Gater, B.Dembele, S.Muggleton, M.Vilhete, W.Fonguck, C.Clifford, L.Gambin, K.Lisbie, M.Gash.

Barnet (2nd Half substitutions): H.Odoein (46), T.Roache (46), F.Shomotun (46), S.Batt (46), C.Haigh (63), J.Nwogu (63), C.Kennedy (63), R.Gondoh (63), J.Taylor (63), S.CojoCarel (63), M.Stevens (63), N.Kyei (79).

Referee: Mick Russell (St Albans).

Att: 335.