Barrow FC 1 County 0 ( Conference North ) 3 April 2015
The visit of
Stockport County attracted over 1600 to Holker Street today, on a raw
afternoon so typical of Barrow at any time of the year.
A very
competitive game saw County extremely unlucky to come away from Cumbria without
at least one point- a situation that owed shed loads to the continuation of a
run of ill fortune you wouldn`t wish on your worst enemy. This time it was an
injury, to Kyle Jacobs, that caused the angst. Up until that point County had
done really well, restricting the league leaders to the bare minimum of shots
on goal, whilst coming very close indeed themselves, through Dennis, albeit
with just about our only shot on target, mid way into the second half.
But.....with barely 10 minutes left Jacobs.....who had been a key player for
County, along with Moses in a busy County mid field, went down injured near the
far touchline. At that point, with Jacobs in obvious trouble, I fully expected
referee Kevin Mulraine to stop play......but he didn`t......play
continued....the ball crucially running to Andy Haworth who lashed it home from
just outside the box, and that was that.... and despite County`s best efforts
it remained 1-0 , which was scant reward for a decent showing by County against
a side on a run of form.
Alan Lord takes time out to chat to County Supporters. |
Back to 3 o`clock, and there was a
familiar bite in the air as kick off neared. County were unchanged from `the
match that never was ‘ last Saturday, and I was probably the only one on the
ground expecting County to snatch this one!
The early moments saw each side have
a go......a foul on Churchman offering Wilkinson the chance of early glory which
he promptly wasted with a really poor free kick. Barrow`s initial reply came
via wide man Danny Pilkington but his cross, angled in wickedly from the right,
was dealt with immaculately by Hurst.
Hurst it is !! |
Then Lees had work to do, doing it well
to deny Anthony Wilson, but the best chance for Barrow seemed to come when Izak
Reid darted clear down the left. He looked a threat with his muscularity and
pace, but the threat was nullified, when O`Halloran bided his time...waited his
moment, and then just took the ball off the onrushing forward`s toes. That was
almost worth the entry fee alone, but was utterly typical of another stonkingly
good performance from the popular Irishman!
Churchman & Duxbury in action. |
It went on with Duxbury doing just enough to put Pilkington off as he
bore down on goal.
Cue the first injury crisis for the
yellow shirted blues, as Wilkinson had to be replaced by Charlie Russell after
a heavy tackle had incapacitated him.
Wilkinson down prior to going off. |
It had been mostly Barrow on the offensive
as the 10th minute was ushered in with a Barrow free kick after
Moses was adjudged to have fouled Pilkington. Ex Hatter Sam Sheridan took it,
and Hurst did really well to tip the ball over the bar at the last moment,
capping this with another decent stop almost straight away as Pilkington sought
to capitalise on a lapse by Duxbury!
County did
respond- Jacobs sending Spencer scooting clear, but the Barrow keeper, Tony
McMillan, snaffled Todd`s final ball with ease , and a follow up move involving
Todd and Spencer fared no better.
On it went
with both teams trying a bit, none more so than Alex Ray-Harvey for Barrow, who
was stopped by excellent work from Hurst as he burst clear.
Meanwhile,
it was noticeable that Jacobs midfield roll seemingly included a brief to push
on up the park, and he was the proverbial whisker away from reaching a
beautiful reverse pass from Spencer on the edge of the box! Barrow survived,
but it offered County hope.
County defend. |
Barrow pressed on, forcing vital
interventions from O`Halloran, Duxbury and Lees in rapid succession- Wilson
volleying over the top on the end of it all!
Duxbury tracks Pilks, covered by Moses. |
Thirty minutes in, and I took stock
of where we were, and I had Lees and O`Halloran in complete command at the
back, with Moses and Jacobs very competitive in the middle, and if neither
Dennis or Spencer had created much, they did offer possibilities and both
looked like they wanted the ball. Much depended I suppose, on how Barrow shaped
up, and so far it had to be said that despite periods of possession, there was not
a lot of oomph factor about the work of the Cumbrian side!
No way through for Barrow. |
Down to 10 briefly as Dennis took a
limb threatener from a none too particular opponent, County could only watch as Pilkington shot
wide after a previous attack had seen O`Halloran in action heading clear off
the line under pressure. O `Halloran was by no means done either ,and
magnificent work from him next dished
Andy Cook comprehensively , and allowed Hurst the luxury of being able to clear
his lines , after Cook had looked on for glory!
Some good stuff followed from
County....Duxbury doing well to stop Reid`s break,
Dennis in the thick of it ! |
and Moses unlucky to see
McMillan stop Spencer adding finish to Tunji`s pass. Nil- nil at the break, against
the league leaders was not bad at all, and I was by no means convinced to alter
my earlier notion that we had a chance of winning this one!
The second half opened
with Barrow pressing forward and in a five minute period Cook had shots charged
down by Russell and O`Halloran , and another result in a corner that saw Hurst
punch hurried clear , before having to dive at the feet of Wilson to prevent
the home side opening the scoring.
Corners came and went, after this, for
Barrow, without them really looking like getting that opener, indeed the 62 nd
minute almost saw County spring a surprise as Spencer found himself on the end
of a fine through ball from Jacobs.
Mc Millan just got to the ball before the
Stockport man, so again I was encouraged! Less so when almost straight away
Cook went clear! The alarm bells sounded as he sped on, but Lees quickly
tracked back and won loud applause from the County following as he stopped his
man and won a free kick to boot!
Lees gets stuck in ! |
Barrow kept at it however with Cook,
urged on by the tenacious Sam Sheridan, in the van bringing decent block after
decent block from Moses, Lees and company. But no one in yellow could do
anything, on 67 minutes, as yet another Sheridan pass headed into the box where
Cook lurked. It was a chance but an air kick followed from the Barrow number
ten and it went as soon as it appeared!
Work for Hurst and company ! |
Another minute or so, and I was
getting positive again thanks to Jacobs who ended a raid by Burns and Sheridan
with a lovely bit of defensive work capped by a peach of a through ball. This
was sadly not matched by the finishing of Spencer and Churchman at the sharp
end, and it was to be hoped that we would not regret this later.
Sheridan & Churchman head to head. |
I forgot this momentarily as Dennis
weaved his way past 3 men heading for goal. Unfortunately the fourth tripped
him smack on the edge of the box. A free kick followed which seemed very much
within the Dennis range, but he sent it high over the bar to the relief of the
home crowd.
That free kick......... |
.........Doesn`t trouble McMillan |
County continued to defend well after
this –O`Halloran particularly impressing, even finding time for one of his
surging up-field runs- an abortive one, but good to see none the less. Dennis
was thwarted by Sheridan as well, so it was not all Barrow by any means.
That said, they did still have fire
power up front, with Cook looking top man in this respect, so Todd did well to
stop his run –the only cost to us being a corner! But......Jacobs was down and
in obvious trouble. Would the referee stop proceedings? I thought he might, but
no.....play continued ...the ball reaching substitute Haworth in the space
vacated by Jacobs, just outside the box. He promptly took full advantage of his
good fortune by lashing a superb strike into the net before Hurst could think
of moving. That was disgustingly bad luck for County, and my anguish was
increased by the knowledge that only moments earlier I had made jest of the not
overly hardy Haworth`s `nice gloves’!
Jacobs meanwhile hobbled off but the
damage was done, and the match probably lost.
Cue a booking for Sheridan for a tasty foul on Spencer, that
earned him a thoroughly deserved booking, as Ryan came on for Jacobs for the
last10 minutes.
County did their best to snaffle something from the game for
sure, and for a moment I thought that maybe they had, as a terrific ball from
Russell sent Dennis past Livesey into
the box. A neat shot followed from Dennis but somehow McMillan managed to push
it out. Again Dennis went for the loose ball but a combination of Mc Millan and
Livesey blocked the forward`s efforts!
County kept it up......an O`Halloran one two ( close but not close enough)....a
free kick...curled a foot past the far post by Russell.......
......... but there was defending
to do too....as a slider by O`Halloran did for a dangerous run by goal scorer
Haworth, and Duxbury blocked Walker`s
gallop into added time. More Barrow corners.....more good work from the likes
of O`Halloran ,and that was that.....County`s valiant effort had been sparcely
rewarded. My meticulous head count meanwhile, fixed the number of County fans
at Holker Street at 352- not a bad turn out on a wet ...cold bank holiday.
Their team deserved better....but it`s clear that, with the odd addition there
is plenty for Lordy to build on next season, when I fancy that we will need to
adopt the Danny Blanchflower approach of ` equalising before the other team
score’ in our quest to fend off an obvious challenge from FCUM and others for
promotion. I cannot wait, meanwhile we have unfinished business at Hyde and the
small matter of a few more end of season games to put to bed.
See you in the Bung on Monday ahead of the first of these
....County v Oxford City!
County line up:
Hurst, Todd, Lees, OHalloran, Duxbury, Moses, Churchman(
Lofthouse 89), Wilkinson ( Russell 7), Jacobs( Ryan 79), Dennis, Spencer.
Subs not used:
Ormson, Hampson.
Barrow line up:
McMillan, Burns , Cowperthwaite, Sheridan, Livesey, Grand,
Pilkington( Haworth 68), Ray-Harvey, Wilson( Walker 53), Cook, Reid ( Gorman
86) .
Subs not used:
Guy, Ledsham.
Attendance : 1657
Ian Brown
Comments
Post a Comment