Crystal Palace's pre-season preparations started in North London, where they fell short to Vanarama National League side Barnet, courtesy of a moment of magic from Courtney Senior.
The winger signed for the Bees in February, contributing only one goal in 13 appearances. However, the 26-year-old has taken the number 7 shirt ahead of next season and paid full tribute to its predecessor, Rob Hall, with a sublime finish from distance to seal the victory.
The Eagles fielded two different sides with both featuring a combination of first-team players and academy prospects. The first half saw the experienced Jean-Phillipe Mateta leading the line and James Tomkins marshalling at the back, while the second featured Odsonne Edouard and Tyrick Mitchell.
For both sides, it was a chance to look at players that could creep their way into a starting role, notably Ade Oluwo for the Bees and Malcolm Ebiowei for Crystal Palace.
The deadlock was broken with only six minutes of normal time remaining; Senior's effort nestled into the top corner beyond a helpless Joe Whitworth.
Palace will face tougher tests before their opener against Sheffield United on the 12th of August, including the likes of Sevilla and Lyon. Meanwhile, Barnet's campaign commences on the 5th of August against Hartlepool United, but MK Dons and Cambridge United await them before the season gets underway.
Story of the match:
Dean Brennan's Barnet side were very lively in the opening stages. New signing Reece Hall-Johnson beat his marker and provided an early test for Remi Matthews in between the sticks for Palace.
The Eagles were quick to assert their authority and caught the Bees out with a smart through ball sending Mateta in on goal, but Laurie Walker was able to eliminate the impending danger.
The French striker provided a real test for Ade Oluwo, who made the switch to North London from National League South outfit Chelmsford City this summer.
He was played through again and set the ball into the oncoming Killian Phillips who placed his shot just wide of the top right corner. However, Oluwo held his ground and denied Mateta another 1-on-1 opportunity minutes later.
Sam Barratt found himself tangled in the penalty area between a sea of blue and white shirts after a clever ball from Zak Brunt, but his appeal for a penalty was quickly waved away by referee Fadi Mansour.
That chance altered the momentum of the game slightly and the Bees started to threaten the youthful Palace backline. Idris Kanu's intelligent fake shot tricked his marker, but his ambitious shot from distance flew into the away stand.
Former VfB Stuttgart midfielder Naouirou Ahamada then proceeded to replicate what Kanu had done at the other end, dribbling past two Bees midfielders before unleashing his attempt over the top of the goal.
The best chance of the half arguably came to Barnet. Hall-Johnson picked up a through ball as he rushed into the box but dragged his shot agonisingly wide across the face of the goal.
Barnet and Crystal Palace both came out for the second half with fully-rotated sides, with the likes of Odsonne Edouard, Will Hughes and Tyrick Mitchell featuring for the Eagles.
It was the Bees that started on the front foot again - Marvin Armstrong's mazy run into the box just needed a composed finish to break the deadlock.
Walker then pulled off a tremendous save at full reach to deny Luke Plange from firing into the bottom left. The resulting corner was volleyed wide by John-Kymani Gordon, who played a huge role in Carlisle United's promotion story last season while on loan up north.
However, Armstrong should have steered Barnet into a winning position five minutes later if not for Whitworth's rapid reaction to deny his effort with both feet.
As both teams started to find their feet, the fast-paced tempo of the game temporarily cooled down until Sam Granville's low-drilled shot almost slid past the gloves of Whitworth.
Centre-back Moussa Diarra made what turned out to be a crucial block, denying Jesurun Rak-Sakyi on the cutback.
In the 84th minute, Courtney Senior collected the ball from outside the penalty area, set up and placed his effort perfectly into the top corner.
It was the 26-year-old's second goal for the Bees and was perhaps a glimpse of what he could bring to the table in an important campaign for Brennan's side.
As the game reached the final stages, Edouard had a few half-chances to bring Palace back level, but some excellent last-gasp defending from Sam Beard and the trialists denied the 25-year-old from adding to the scoresheet.
A delighted Hive Stadium roared as the referee reached for his whistle, showing the improvement that Barnet have made under Dean Brennan's tenure.
For Crystal Palace, there are improvements to be made and a few additions needed before the Premier League returns.
With Roy Hodgson in attendance on the night, there is no doubt that there will be conversations imminently.
Player of the match:
Courtney Senior - Barnet
While Hall-Johnson was electric in the first half for Barnet, a narrow affair was always going to be decided by a piece of individual magic. Senior provided that with a spectacular strike for the winning goal.
Speaking after the game, Senior said: “As soon as it left my foot, I knew it was in, it feels good.”
The former AFC Wimbledon winger's 25-yard stunner was enough to win the award, and with a pre-season goal like that, he may have taken his opportunity to show his worth in an attempt to start week in and week out next campaign.
