The script seemed to be written when sub James Beattie hit a late strike at goal as Stanley looked for a win against 10-man Barnet.

The former England international had come off the bench at 1-1 for his Reds’ debut, had been tripped by Edgar Davids to see the Dutch international sent off for a second bookable offence and then had a chance to hit the winning goal.

But the 34-year-old’s effort was blocked as, like most things on a foggy Friday night at Underhill, things didn’t go the Reds’ way.

Underhill has never been a particularly lucky ground for Stanley with various sendings off and contentious decisions over the years and the Reds may be glad when the Bees leave their 106-year-old home at the end of this campaign and move to a new purpose built stadium at their training ground.

And while the Davids v Beattie show dominated most headlines, Stanley boss Leam Richardson was more worried about the performance of referee Lee Collins.

Stanley had taken the lead through Rommy Boco’s then sixth goal of the campaign and looked relatively safe against a side struggling at the wrong end of the table but who had picked up following Davids’ arrival in October.

That was until Lee Molyneux was harshly judged to have brought down Ricky Holmes just inside the area on 70 minutes. There was a delay but the assistant flagged for a spot kick much to the fury of the Reds’ players.

However it was thought justice had been done when keeper Ian Dunbavin denied Mark Byrne from the spot for what appeared his third penalty save of the season.

But instead the same assistant ordered a retake for Dunbavin apparently moving on his line and – this time – Byrne made no mistake, much to the bemusement and frustration of the Stanley contingent.

And this was compounded by the Reds having two ‘goals’ disallowed for offside from James Gray in the first half and Peter Murphy after the break.

"I don’t like to speak about the officials but when they put in performances like that it’s impossible because everybody wants to ask the questions. I do, I want answers," said an annoyed Richardson.

"If you look at penalties over the weekend, they will be exactly the same and they won’t be retaken. That is the problem. There is no consistency.

"I thought he (the referee) was poor all night and he summed it up by sending off one of their lads just to get a name in his book.

"We’ve had two goals disallowed, we’ve had a penalty retaken and they’ve added three minutes of injury time when there were subs, a couple of injuries and a sending off.

"We do try to defend officials – being an official is a rock hard job – but sometimes they don’t do themselves any favours."

Referee aside though, Richardson was pleased with the Reds’ show: "The lads are frustrated and they haven’t lost the game, which shows a great appetite. It’s the message we send around the club."

Stanley did struggle in the first half especially with tricky winger Holmes. Barnet passed the ball around well with former Ajax, Juventus and Tottenham star Davids, now 39, staying near the middle and providing an outlet as well as spraying the ball around.

He is a focal point for them and will be a star attraction for visiting fans – as Stanley hope Beattie will be.

The slope at Underhill is a big advantage and Barnet had that in the first half, pressing around the box without seriously testing Dunbavin.

They rattled the crossbar from Byrne but Dunbavin had been fouled a moment before while George Miller’s looping ball in found the head of Gray at the other end and he found the back of the net – but the assistant flagged for offside.

Barnet made a double substitution at the break as they looked for the opener and Dunbavin will have been glad to keep out a Davids strike from the edge of the box.

However Stanley were making more of an impression and, for all their passing game, their goal came from route-one.

A Dunbavin free kick eight minutes after the restart was flicked on by Barnet sub Jonathan Fortune – jumping with Padraig Amond – and Boco ran onto the ball.

While his first shot was kept out by Graham Stack it fell kindly for Boco to follow up and he finished well.

It looked like the Benin man was going to be the headline grabber on his 100th appearance for the Reds and Stanley looked capable of holding on, or adding to the lead, until the contentious penalty decision and twice taken spot kick.

On came Beattie with 11 minutes left and the the Reds were unlucky again when Murphy’s effort was ruled out for offside.

Barnet were on the defensive and, with five minutes to go, Beattie fell under a Davids challenge and, after picking up a booking in the first half, the star man was off – much to the anger of a large contingent of Dutch fans who had come to watch their hero.

It was backs-to-the-walls then for Barnet but Beattie and co couldn’t turn the draw into the win.

Richardson was disappointed but may look back on it as a good point come the end of the season.