Barnet manager Dean Brennan pointed to the tactical dominance his side exhibited as the key for a comprehensive 3-1 win over Boston United at the Hive on Saturday.

The Bees extended their winning streak to seven in the National League, consolidating their place at the top of the table.

“Everything I thought they’d do, they’d done,” Brennan told the club website.

“We were a little bit sloppy in front of goal in the first half. I spoke at half-time about what they (Boston) were doing. Their two sitting midfield players were following our 10s, and there was loads of space behind the back of our midfield, so I tried to put our centre-halves there. That’s why Nik Tavares scored, so we overloaded that way.

“I thought, tactically, we were very good and they made it hard for us. They tried to frustrate us, and we just had patience. We had the quality to do that, even though we only had six subs.

Boston arrived boasting an outstanding away record this season, and Brennan was keen to touch on the threat the National League newbies posed.

“They’ve got a great away record. They were 2-0 at Altrincham and came back to 2-2 with ten men as well, by the way,” said Brennan.

“They did a job on York. They rode the storm early but then did the job in the in the second half. I watched them again against Sutton, and they were outstanding there, where they won 3-0, so we knew their strengths.

"We knew with three up front they like to go into the channels. The opposite one will run into that channel, and that’s how they got their goal. They set up their play; our cover wasn’t on from our wingback, which was sloppy. It was something we spoke about on Thursday on a video we watched and worked on, so that’s annoying.

“The most impressive thing for me is to go 1-0 down then show their patience and quality and for the players to understand, tactically, what I want from them.

“Especially when I’m showing them video at half-time where they need to be and how we can hurt them. It was very impressive because it could have been a very frustrating day.”

Despite the convincing nature of the victory, the Bees boss warned his players more slow starts could cost them yet another promotion place come the end of the campaign.

“I’ve seen games here before where our standards, our focus, and our mentality were right. I wanted an overload from our centre-backs to go into midfield, and that’s how Tavs got the second goal. He entered the midfield, and then he’s arrived in the box.

“I just thought all in all, from our point of view, we had another very strong performance.”

Barnet will look to continue their impressive form when they host Chelmsford City in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round at the Hive on Saturday.