Barnet boss Dean Brennan was elated with the character his side exhibited as they came from behind to beat Radcliffe 2-1 and reach the last 16 of the FA Trophy on Saturday.

Staring down the barrel of a shock fourth-round exit, goals either side of the break from Marvin Armstrong spared the Bees’ blushes, with Brennan thrilled to have overcome the task at hand.

“I have to be honest, it’s a fantastic victory for us," he told the club website.

“It’s a really tough place to come and we’ve come up against a team that is flying. Their home form has been amazing, and they’re in a division where they’ve got several players from a higher level.

“They’ve got a very experienced manager, and I thought we were greeted with a good old-fashioned non-league place to come. The way we were greeted today was phenomenal.”

Despite the early setback, Armstrong’s double proved to be the difference on the day, and Brennan praised the player’s performance after struggling to make an impact this season.

“It was a huge goal for us. It gives us a lift and gives them a bit of a kick in the teeth at the time, so I thought it was crucial,” said the head coach of Armstrong’s equaliser on the stroke of half-time.

“It's a really good goal. We got it wide, which is what we wanted to do here - to get it into the wide areas as we knew we could isolate their wing-backs in the one-on-one scenarios with our pace, so we knew we could hurt them.”.

Brennan was also keen to highlight the defensive work of his side, adding that the cup competitions conjure the trickiest challenges when up against it.

“It’s what you have to do in cup competitions," he added.

"You have to come here and defend your box well. They’re on a high, and they’re asking so many questions when we went 2-1 up.

“I thought our goalkeeper (Joshua Keeley) was outstanding again for us. He brought us a lot of composure, and it’s not really a pitch that you can come to and pass the ball around as it’s the winter months.

"We had it last week at Altrincham - the pitch wasn’t great there either, so our players stood up to the test with a very young team.”

After being handed a trip to National League South strugglers Welling United in Monday's draw, the Bees’ next test sees them face National League leaders Chesterfield at the Hive on Saturday (5.30pm), as they look to continue their recent run of good form and close the gap on their counterparts.