Barnet’s excellent run of form came to an end last night as they were defeated 2-1 away at already-relegated Maidstone United in the National League.

Medy Elito put the Bees ahead inside the first minute and a penalty save from Mark Cousins looked to keep their run on track, but Justin Amaluzor levelled inside one minute of the second half and Rob Swaine’s winner condemned Barnet to their first loss in nine.

Darren Currie said before the game that three players would not be risked on the plastic surface at Maidstone, so Elliot Johnson, Dave Tarpey and Ricardo Santos missed out, while Antonis Vasiliou became the latest Barnet academy player to make the first team squad.

The visitors made the perfect start to the game, going ahead within 50 seconds when Medy Elito picked up the ball from a throw in and fired into the top corner from the edge of the box.

The goalscorer soon looked to double his tally for the evening, cutting back onto his right foot, and his clipped effort beat the keeper but just went over the bar.

Maidstone’s first chance of the evening came on the brink of half-time when Dan Sweeney brought down Amaluzor in the area from a fast break, but Cousins guessed correctly to deny Blair Turgott and preserve the Bees’ lead going into the break.

However, just after the restart, Barnet’s run of 693 minutes without conceding a goal came to an end when Amaluzor was left free at the far post to tap in.

Few chances were created in the second period, but the Stones made theirs count as Swaine lost his marker from a Jack Powell free-kick and headed in.

Visiliou entered the field with 10 minutes remaining for his senior debut, and he almost set up a late equaliser when he laid off for Simeon Akinola, but his effort went agonisingly wide, which allowed Maidstone to hold on for the points.

The loss keeps Barnet in 12th place in the National League having now caught up with all of their games after falling behind due to their lengthy FA Cup run.

They can move further into the top half this Saturday, but play-off contenders Wrexham stand in their way – kick-off is at 3pm at The Hive.