Barnet manager Paul Fairclough could only see one winner after 20 minutes of Barnet's match against Torquay United. So could everyone else at Underhill on Saturday.

But somehow that perceived victor trudged off a loser (Barnet losing 3-0) after a chastening experience in a game that turned squarely on its head in the space of three first-half minutes.

Barnet were rampant during the first quarter against Torquay at the weekend, carving out chances for fun, and it seemed as though it would be a matter of time before the net bulged behind goalkeeper Danny Potter.

But after Izale McLeod had inexplicably spurned two golden opportunities to take the lead without managing to get a shot away, the visitors ran up the other end and scored through left-back Lathaniel Rowe-Turner with their first attack.

Minutes later and the task became a virtually impossible one for Barnet, debutant Anthony Pulis being shown a straight red card for a reckless tackle on Chris Zebroski.

Try as they might in the second half, the Bees could not recover and tiredness eventually kicked in. Billy Kee finished excellently from the edge of the box to suck the life from the home side, and Zebroski drilled in a third in injury time to compound their misery.

Fairclough was at a loss to explain the turnaround. “In the first 20 minutes I could only see one winner in the game. We created some very, very good chances and played really well. I felt as if it was just a matter of time before we scored.

“Their first shot at goal was a goal and we defended very poorly. But I was not particularly concerned because of the way we were playing I thought we could get back in it and get something out of the game, and perhaps go on and win it. But the sending off turned out to be a key moment in the game.”

Other results involving teams at the foot of League Two went against Barnet, leaving them bottom, but Fairclough was keen to take the positives.

“There's only way to go now. We either just sink or do what the other teams are doing, which is winning games. We're rock bottom and we have to face that fact but I'm not going to forget what went on in the first 20 minutes here.”