Barnet 1-2 Walsall: Saddlers claim first away victory at newly-promoted Bees

Barrett provided the opener inside the first two minutes when he scored his second goal of the season from Charlie Lakin's low cross. 

Pressley doubled their lead in the 22nd minute with his first goal for Walsall when he stabbed his finish into the bottom corner from Mason Hancock's free-kick. 

Ollie Hawkins halved the deficit five minutes before the break, but Barnet failed to forge a comeback after Nnamdi Ofoborh was shown a second yellow card.

Harrison Burke and Dan Cox were presented with their league debuts for Walsall and Brandon Comley was restored to the base of midfield. 

Barnet made four changes and switched to a 3-5-2 formation with veteran Hawkins and last season's top scorer Callum Stead partnering each other in attack.

Walsall flew out of the traps and took the lead inside the opening 80 seconds when Barrett scored his second of the season. 

Stuttle pressed Danny Collinge into giving the ball away and released Lakin on the overlap down the left. He delivered an enticing cutback into the box and Barrett confidently swept his finish beyond Barnet goalkeeper Cieran Slicker. 

After an energetic start from Walsall, Barnet breached their back-line for the first time when Ofoborh worked space for himself on the edge of the box, but Myles Roberts sprawled to his left to palm away.

Pressley doubled the Saddlers' advantage midway into the first half when he was left completely unmarked to stab Mason Hancock's sumptuous free-kick delivery into the far corner. 

Barnet continued to dominate possession but Walsall didn't afford them an inch of space, pressing relentlessly and plugging any gaps that the hosts could potentially exploit. 

The hosts did haul themselves back into the contest just before the break when Hawkins scored their first goal back in the Football League. 

Skipper Hartigan curled a mean corner delivery into the six-yard box, which Roberts was unable to punch away, and Hawkins headed home from a matter of yards. 

The Bees started the second half with more confidence and Ryan Glover forced Roberts to backpedal just after the restart when his strike from distance whistled over the crossbar. 

But any hopes of a Barnet comeback were drastically reduced when Ofoborh was shown a second yellow card for a cynical challenge on Barrett.

Albert Adomah was cheered by both sets of fans when he entered the pitch against his former club just past the hour-mark. 

Walsall made hard work of it for the final half-hour as the game ebbed and flowed with neither side creating any clear-cut chances.

Jellis came closest to a third goal for Walsall when he checked inside from the right but was unable to keep his strike from distance down.

But Barnet were the side applying the late pressure when Roberts managed to force the ball behind after a chaotic goalmouth scramble in the dying stages. 

Next, Walsall welcome Grimsby Town to Bescot on Tuesday evening, before hosting Salford City in the early kick-off next Saturday.

Teams 

Walsall (3-1-4-2): Roberts; Burke (Farquharson 73), Flint, Cox; Comley (Warrington 78); Barrett, Jellis, Lakin (Clarke 73), Hancock; Pressley (Matt 78), Stuttle (Adomah 62).

Unused: Hornby, Hollman.

Barnet (3-5-2): Slicker; Collinge, Tavares, Senior; Smith (Galvin 59), Ofoborh (sent off 53), Hartigan (Brunt 81), Shelton (Osadebe 66), Glover (Kanu 81); Stead (Ndlovu 81), Hawkins.

Subs: Wright, High.

Referee: Abigail Byrne 

Attendance: 2,608 (806)