Grimsby Town 5 Barnet 0 . . .

Woeful Barnet were on the end of a battering at Blundell Park this afternoon.

The Bees were guilty of some shocking defending as the Mariners ran riot.

Paul Fairclough's troops only really tested the home keeper in the closing minutes, but it was all over way before then.

Grimsby never looked back once they broke the deadlock on 26 minutes, Gary Jones getting on the end of a deep Peter Till cross to send a looping header over Lee Harrison.

The lead was doubled five minutes before the break, Danny North drilling under Harrison after the ball broke kindly for him.

Barnet created a few half-chances, but were rarely a threat to keeper Phil Barnes in what was an uninspiring opening 45 minutes.

And it was to get even worse in the second half.

The only surprise was the fact it took Grimsby until 20 minutes from time to wrap up the points, Harrison having earlier pulled off a superb close-range save to deny North.

The third goal was another soft one, North flicking a Ryan Bennett centre in at the near post.

Nick Fenton rose unchallenged to convert a Nick Hegarty corner on 80 minutes, while North wasted another glorious chance for his hat-trick, shooting inches wide with just Harrison to beat.

With the final whistle approaching, Barnet had three chances in as many minutes, but their luck was out. Jason Puncheon saw the keeper scramble a long-range effort to safety, before Nicky Bailey had a dipping 25-yard volley tipped over from the resulting corner. Puncheon then saw Barnes deflect a shot on to the bar.

But it was too little too late from the Bees, and North finally completed his hat-trick from the spot in injury time, Simon King having clumsily bundled over Andy Taylor just inside the box.

BARNET (4-4-2): Harrison; Devera (Ioannau 83), Warhurst, King, Nicolau; Cogan, Sinclair, Bailey, Puncheon; Birchall, Hatch (Vieira 64). Subs not used: Flitney, Graham, Grazioli.

Attendance: 3,675.