Barnet are another step closer to Wembley and will meet Swindon Town in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy southern area final after holding their nerve from 12 yards to beat Brentford 5-3 on penalties following a goalless 90 minutes at Underhill tonight.

The hosts had to withstand a torrid opening 15 minutes but following that, they gave as good as they got, although Dean Brill was forced to make two outstanding saves in quick succession after the interval.

Barnet’s best chance of breaking the deadlock also came in the second half when Clovis Kamdjo’s goal-bound effort was blocked following a Sam Deering cross.

After Mark Hughes and Ricky Holmes had converted Barnet’s first two spot kicks, with Gary Alexander dispatching Brentford’s opener, the decisive moment came when Jonathan Douglas blazed horribly over.

Jake Reeves and Sam Saunders did net the visitors’ two other efforts but that didn’t make any difference as Deering, Izale McLeod and Danny Senda all did what was required to book a two-legged final date.

Lawrie Sanchez made one change from the team that started Saturday’s 3-1 FA Cup defeat against Milton Keynes Dons, with Gary Borrowdale returning for Jack Saville, who had picked up an injury at the weekend.

The visitors, deploying a fluid 4-1-4-1 formation, sought to assert themselves from the off and they could have been a couple of goals to the good in the first ten minutes.

Niall McGinn had the first attempt of the evening, attacking inside off the left before hitting a drive over the top, but Barnet had the woodwork to thank for not falling behind in the fourth minute when a lapse from Michael Hector put McGinn through on goal and he lifted the ball over the stranded Brill, only to see it rebound off the bar.

Saunders also had a shot blocked before Marcus Bean was released on the right side of the penalty area and his low cross shot fizzed narrowly wide of the far post.

Barnet survived another close call in the 13th minute when Saunders played in McGinn close to the by-line to the left of goal but, fortunately for the hosts, no team-mate was in the right place in the heart of the penalty area to get the decisive touch.

The home side finally started to gain a foothold in the game as the halfway point of the opening period approached, with Deering and McLeod seeing shots blocked.

Barnet continued to grow as an attacking presence and Clayton Donaldson didn’t help his side’s cause in the 34th minute when he was rightly booked for a crude challenge on Deering near his own area, but Mark Marshall’s free-kick could only hit the wall.

Paul Downing had the last chance of the half when he met Mark Byrne’s free-kick from the right with a header but his effort was always drifting wide of keeper Richard Lee’s far post.

The contest continued to be close in the opening stages of the second half but in the 58th minute Brill produced two fantastic saves to keep the tie level. First the keeper produced an instinctive reaction one-handed stop to his left to keep out Donaldson’s close-range header after Harlee Dean had headed back across goal and then, after Brentford had kept the ball alive, he got down superbly to make another shap save to prevent Toumani Diagouraga’s right-footed effort from going inside his left-hand post.

Back came Barnet though, with Marshall doing well on the left before coming inside and hitting a right-footed shot wide of the near post, only for Uwe Rosler’s men to begin to up the ante again.

Donaldson should have done much better when he broke away after the ball deflected through to him off Mark Hughes’ outstretched boot but the striker chose to check back inside before striking a tame shot at Brill.

But the Barnet keeper’s reactions were again tested moments later when he did well to turn away Dean’s goal-bound flick from what was initially a poorly struck free-kick from the right.

However, it was the hosts turn to wonder how they hadn’t taken the lead as the last 15 minutes approached when a weak defensive header allowed Deering to race clear down the right and pick out Kamdjo with a cross. The midfielder’s attempt was struck well enough, only for Shaleum Logan to keep it out with a fine defensive block.

After McGinn had made way for Alexander, Sanchez made his first change with ten minutes remaining when Holmes came on for Byrne.

Donaldson also made way for Mike Grella as the game went into its final stages but despite getting into promising situations, neither side was able to create a clear chance to try and win it, although McLeod did hit a shot on the turn over deep into injury time.

Barnet: Brill; Senda, Downing, Hector, Borrowdale; Byrne (Holmes 81), Kamdjo, Hughes, Marshall; Deering; McLeod. Not used: Baseya, O’Brien, N’Diaye and McCallum.

Brentford: Lee; Logan, Dean, Eger, Bidwell; Douglas; Saunders, Bean (Reeves 90), Diagouraga, McGinn (Alexander 72); Donaldson (Grella 86). Not used: Weston and Legge.

Bookings: Donaldson for a foul on Deering (34); Douglas for dissent (76).

Attendance: 1,970.

Referee: Oliver Langford.