A euphoric Martin Allen hailed his own tactical genius as Barnet surged back to seal a 2-2 draw at Accrington Stanley.

With the Bees 2-0 down and 15 minutes left, Chris Hackett was carried off injured with the visitors having used all three substitutions at their disposal.

At this stage, Allen threw caution to the wind and decided to put three up front. 15 minutes later in the 90th minute, John Akinde rose highest at the near post and headed in off the underside of the bar to equalise.

Tha Barnet manager couldn't hide his delight at how the decision paid dividends, saying: "You've got to say it was a brilliant tactical change by the manager!

"It's got to be one of the highlights from my 500 games to change it and play with three up front when we're two goals down and a man down to get a draw," he joked.

"My god, what a comeback that was. It's a great effort from all of the players and the staff."

The dramatic denouement was entirely at odds with an insipid first half.

With captain Andy Yiadom in an unfamiliar left back role, the hosts had some success down the right flank and Brad Halliday arrowed a shot wide from 20 yards.

Barnet showed the defensive discipline that has seen them stockpile clean sheets, five in their last seven games to be exact.

Rommy Boco came closest, ending a mazy run with a curling effort that forced Jamie Stephens into a save high to his left.

The visitors made their first change at the break, swapping 18 year old debutant Fumnaya Shomotun for Mark Randall.

Just before the hour mark the Barnet rearguard was breached. Halliday's lofted centre, drifted in from the right, found the unmarked Billy Kee who guided a low effort into the bottom corner with his left foot from eight yards.

Allen acted, bringing Matty Stevens and Luke Gambin into the fray.

Kee was in the mood to add to his tally, climbing over James Pearson to head into Stevens' hands. Minutes later, Kee then did well to nick in just before the keeper's five to claim the ball and turned to fire on his goal, only for Stevens to react and flash a strong left hand to turn it behind for a corner.

Stanley started to pop the ball around confidently, before Sean McConville clattered into a challenge with Chris Hackett right in front of the technical areas. Five minutes later, Akinde wriggled away from Matty Pearson in the box and squared for the arriving Gambin, who ended his sharp sprint with a firm finish from close range to pull one back.

Gambin earned a free kick on the edge of the box which fellow substitute Randall stepped up to take. He whipped a delivery in for Akinde, who rose above everyone to head I a dramatic equaliser in front of Barnet's 95 travelling fans.

Allen made four changes to the team that beat Portsmouth on Tuesday night and he paid tribute to those that stepped in, saying: "All the lads that were sub the other night came on and played.

"I had full confidence in them, full belief in them.

"I thought I'd freshen it up and give these other lads a chance that didn't play on Tuesday.

"Our players have worked remarkably hard and they're humble, they respect each other and they're all happy to commit to the team to do their job.

"It's nice to be able to leave Curtis Weston out, to leave Bondz out and to still get a result.

The Bees boss was proud to reward the commitment of the 95 Bees fans that made the long journey up to the North West, commenting: "For the people that came up from London, there wasn't many of them, but at 2-0 down they probably thought it was all over.

"At 2-0 down with ten men, playing with a completely different team they probably definitely thought it was all over," he continued.

"To come back, to see them all at the end by the tunnel, of course it makes me proud and it's very special."