Barnet have seen their lead at the top of the Conference Premier table reduced to two points after only registering a 1-1 draw at Braintree Town.

The Bees had entered the game with a four-point advantage but Halifax Town's win at Alfreton Town has seen the Shaymen halve the margin between themselves and Barnet.

The visitors started brightly at Cressing Road and they took just 12 minutes to take the lead when Curtis Weston found John Akinde to head into the net for his seventh goal of the campaign.

Moments later, the former Bristol City forward nearly added a second, but after that opportunity was wasted, Braintree began to come back into the contest, with Simeon Akinola having an effort ruled out for offside.

The home did find the equaliser nine minutes before half time through Jordan Cox, who found space inside the penalty area to head past the goalkeeper.

Braintree started strongly after the restart with James Mulley testing Graham Stack, but Barnet hit back through Akinde, who saw his lofted shot land on top of the net with the goalkeeper beaten.

As the match entered the final 15 minutes, both teams had chances to net a winner with Barnet's Weston and Braintree's Cox missing openings for their respective sides.

That was as good as it got during the closing stages, with Braintree happy to gain a point against the division's best team.