Arsene's all-stars too much for Bees

The occasion was billed as one where the safety of Arsenal's new defender Sol Campbell could be at risk.

Bees chairman Tony Kleanthous stepped up security as a precautionary measure for the centre-back who crossed the north London divide this summer, from Tottenham to bitter rivals Arsenal.

Perhaps John Still should have employed greater defensive measures too, as Premiership big boys Arsenal waltzed to a 6-1 win in Saturday's friendly fixture at Underhill.

Hard to point any fingers, though, considering the strength of the opposition.

Fielding 10 internationals in their starting line-up (Gilles Grimandi being the exception) including a warmly-greeted Mr Campbell, this was a foregone conclusion before a ball was even kicked.

Not that Barnet were prepared to accept their fate so readily. With only three minutes on the clock, Lee Gledhill's whipped corner found its way to the foot of Ben Strevens, who converted acrobatically with an overhead kick. It was ruled offside.

From that point onward it was one-way traffic. After a string of missed chances from Dennis Bergkamp and Francis Jeffers, Freddie Ljungberg linked up brilliantly with Ray Parlour to hit Barnet on the break with a 27th minute strike.

Six minutes later, left-back Ashley Cole surged forward to smash a second past Danny Naisbitt.

Purser and Strevens may have tried to redress the balance but the Gunners central defence proved so physically imposing that the slight forwards never really made their mark on the occasion.

Victory was sealed just before the break when the Jeffers-Bergkamp partnership finally paid dividends with the Dutch striker hitting a third from close distance.

The second half saw a largely changed Barnet line-up (including goalkeeper Lee Harrison and the fresh strike force of Stuart Niven and Neil Midgley) start brightly, pressing forward with confidence.

Midgley's long-range effort was palmed over by Seaman and the former Ipswich striker hit the back of the net shortly afterwards after England's number one fumbled a Mark Arber header in the 55th.

Party-pooper Arsene Wenger is clearly not fond of losing North London derbies and in the 65th minute he used his unlimited substitutions to reveal the aces in his pack: Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires, Junichi Inamoto (greeted with delight from the Japanese press present) Sylvain Wiltord, Giovanni Van Bronckhorst and Richard Wright all taking to the field.

Unsurprisingly, Barnet crumbled under the weight, with Henry netting coolly with one of his first touches, before Vieira and Wiltord wrapped up the scoring late in the game.

They might well have had a dozen if it wasn't for the athletic prowess of Bees' keeper Lee Harrison, who denied the Gunners a string of second half chances.

Barnet: Naisbitt, Gledhill, Sawyers, Goodhind, Heald, Arber, Doolan, Bell, Purser, Strevens, Brown.

Arsenal: Seaman, Lauren, Cole, Adams, Campbell, Grimandi, Ljungberg, Parlour, Bergkamp, Jeffers, Kanu.

Attendance: 4,614.