Barnet 0 Shrewsbury Town 0

It was an evening when it appeared something had to give.

Barnet had won just once at home in the League all season, while Shrewsbury had managed the same paltry victory return on their travels.

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Yet come 10pm, the status quo had been maintained and a travelling support of 362 were left wondering just how to reflect on Town's ninth away draw from 14 games this the season.

First the good news. Paul Simpson's side are now unbeaten in five matches, and haven't tasted defeat in the last three outings on the road.

Indeed, since Boxing Day, Town have carried out to the letter the tried and tested promotion formula of accumulating maximum points at home and avoiding defeat on the road.

And four clean sheets in five outings is a record which provides real comfort that Town are hitting all the right notes defensively.

Yet still concerns over that well-documented away form will linger.

On paper, this appeared a golden chance for that elusive, breakthrough success away from the Prostar Stadium.

But it's now 13 League games without a win on the road, and while that figure continues to grow, the pressure will only increase to maintain their near immaculate form on home territory.

There will also have been genuine disappointment that Town – who have not scored two goals in a game since November 25 – could carve out no more than a couple of genuine chances against a Barnet team who had taken just seven points from a possible 36 at Underhill before last night.

Simpson's reflections were on a solid and satisfactory night's work which kept Town in sixth position, and he will be delighted to see an unbeaten sequence starting to emerge.

The true merits of this point however, can only be measured further down the line, and will largely be dependent on whether Town can now claim victories in the home games against Brentford and Accrington in the next week.

This will be a night remembered for possession rather than penetration.

Throughout an encounter which never quite took off, the visitors were to see more than their fair share of the ball.

And while there were times when they moved it impressively around an immaculate pitch, they failed to regularly test a shaky looking Ran Kadoch in the Barnet goal.

Too often, Town got themselves into encouraging positions in the last third, only for the final ball to fall short of the required standard, while the offside flag often frustratingly blunted attacks.

Shewsbury started promisingly enough, crosses from Grant Holt and Chris Humphrey narrowly failing to produce a final touch.

But it ultimately proved to be Barnet who created the clearer openings in that opening period.

Nicky Deverdics flashed an angled drive just wide, while John O'Flynn twice went close – glancing a header just the wrong side of the post before forcing the save of the night from Luke Daniels with a close range effort.

The returning Holt, who regularly dropped deep to play in a withdrawn striker role, flashed a shot just wide from 18 yards, while a stinging volley from Steve Leslie just after half-time forced Kadoch into the only save which truly extended the Barnet goalkeeper.

From that moment on, both sides had their spells but chances were few and far between and a goalless draw became increasingly inevitable as the clock ticked down.

Not surprising, then, that Town's strongest performers came from the defensive rearguard.

The partnership of Kelvin Langmead and Graham Coughlan appears to be growing in stature by the game, while full-backs Darren Moss and Neil Ashton helped form a solid defensive alliance.

And in midfield, Terry Dunfield gave a tidy and energetic debut in the engine room.

As they prepare for a run of four home games out of five, Shrewsbury remain in the thick of the promotion race.

But they still can't find that winning touch on the road. Only time will tell how costly that may prove to be.

By James Garrison