Southport tonight

[Reg]

Strange, strange game.

Southport were pretty much in control and then some decent changes by us and a bad change by them altered the who complexion of the match.

Holker Street was very flat until Boyes got one back, then it started rocking. Southport cracked again and then Baker had his only decent touch all night when he walloped one in from the Tally Ho.

When we have our best players on the pitch, I think we're a pretty decent outfit. We didn't start with enough of our best players on the pitch tonight though and that needs to change if we're to pick up points consistently.

Pearson needs to be dropped, as does Skelton, Baker and possibly Hunter. I am particularly disappointed with Pearson this season. I really like the guy but he's just been so far below his best and right now, he isn't worth his place. Skelton isn't the player he was last season either. He's another lad that I really like but he's another that has been nowhere near his best from what I've seen so far and we can't be keeping lads like Hessey out of the side on sentiment.

Baker is hugely frustrating. He had a dreadful game but redeemed himself slightly with a wonderful goal. It's not enough though. Southport had the freedom of the park until they made their stupid change to 5 at the back. We didn't get near them. Hunter got close in the first half before disappearing but Baker wasn't at the races at all and contributed next to nothing. It happens too often with him, so perhaps a few games on the bench with fire him up.

I don't want to be too negative after such a stirring comeback but we got away with it tonight and it can't keep happening because more often than not, we won't be coming back from 2 down.

[Attila]

Mom dcarradus....

[HenneysKnee]

Massive win after a poor performance. Hunter/Baker were awful in midfield and surely Harvey and Owen have places to lose when match fit......but then Baker popped up with a beauty of a strike to steal us 3 points. Boyes had no service all night and Almond was trying too hard at times when a simple ball was on......but Boyes grabbed two fantastic proper strikers goals (the second in particular was a great finish) Defending was again iffy and in particular from set pieces where we could easily have gone 3v0 down nevermind 2, saddens me to see it but Pearson doesn't seem to be the player he was and Skelts doesn't seem anywhere near last years (very) high standards. Be nice to see some more fans coming back on Saturday after another stirring comeback

[PeeSee]

Great comeback - again! Buzzing about the comeback and the 3pts but my god how bad are we at defending set pieces. Both their goals from corners and they were the width of a post away from a third. Sort this out and we might not have to perform great escape acts to win games.

Can't fault the endeavour and character though, nor the entertainment value tonight. Hopefully might entice a few of the stay-aways back on Saturday.

[Jim]

Hunter/Baker were awful in midfield

DB said as much in his interview, Baker was kept on just because he had the ability to occasionally do something brilliant. DB said that Harvey changed the game.

[boyliegladbach]

I dont think we have 2 midfielders that make a good pairing in a 2 man centre midfield.

[munt]

Strange, strange game.

Southport were pretty much in control and then some decent changes by us and a bad change by them altered the who complexion of the match.

Holker Street was very flat until Boyes got one back, then it started rocking. Southport cracked again and then Baker had his only decent touch all night when he walloped one in from the Tally Ho.

When we have our best players on the pitch, I think we're a pretty decent outfit. We didn't start with enough of our best players on the pitch tonight though and that needs to change if we're to pick up points consistently.

Pearson needs to be dropped, as does Skelton, Baker and possibly Hunter. I am particularly disappointed with Pearson this season. I really like the guy but he's just been so far below his best and right now, he isn't worth his place. Skelton isn't the player he was last season either. He's another lad that I really like but he's another that has been nowhere near his best from what I've seen so far and we can't be keeping lads like Hessey out of the side on sentiment.

Baker is hugely frustrating. He had a dreadful game but redeemed himself slightly with a wonderful goal. It's not enough though. Southport had the freedom of the park until they made their stupid change to 5 at the back. We didn't get near them. Hunter got close in the first half before disappearing but Baker wasn't at the races at all and contributed next to nothing. It happens too often with him, so perhaps a few games on the bench with fire him up.

I don't want to be too negative after such a stirring comeback but we got away with it tonight and it can't keep happening because more often than not, we won't be coming back from 2 down.

Bang on summary,especially their tactics to go 5 at the back with 30 minutes to go

[Ace]

Great comeback and everything but are defending from corners is shocking.
I've lost count of the goals Danny Hurst has cost us this season from corners.
They all seem to be Headers in the six yard box and he stays routed to his line every-time.
We lost nearly every header from corners and free-kicks tonight, he's gotta start coming off his line.

[Jonty]

Got to sort out this defending at corners- terrible. Back post two of them queuing up unchallenged to get their head on the ball- and it happened more than once! It really is heart in mouth time when defending set pieces and it is the same every week. The back 4 are struggling and were all over the place at times hesitating and bringing themselves under pressure. Midfield- Harvey will surely start before Hunter on Saturday.

At the other end- Boyes was having a quiet game- but his two goals were absolutely fantastic- When we have Almond / Boyes and Jackson on together it feels like we will score.

When Baker scored it was just nuts- How the hell did we get back into that??

[K_BFC]

Amazing night. Barrow were really poor in the 1st and Southport's brand of hit and rush might not have been football but it worked. It's been open season on Barrow at corners all season and tonight was no different. Southport scored from their 1st corner, in-swinging corner from the Barrow left corner and Lynch level with the back post headed into the top corner. 1-0 to Southport. Southport tactics were to close down any player on the ball then hit it long releasing their forwards to run after it. It resulted in a poor game from Barrow as they were left with no space to pass it. It also resulted in Poku commiting a string of fouls on Baker (2 in 20 secs at one point), and a string of aimless balls that did not trouble Barrow much. Both sides struggled to find their men with everyone only having a moment to pass before being clattered. Southport tried to push up in the last 10 mins of the half and Barrow finally started to play, they took advantage and played through them and finally getting round the fullbacks on both flanks and causing mayhem in the Southport defence. Poor shooting saving blushes from some poor clearances. At one point the Southport keeper McMillan was pushed by his own player and he dropped the ball and another Southport defender flicked the ball back into the keepers hands and the ref blew for a free kick to Southport. The pressure was building but time ran out and ended 1-0 to Southport at the break.

One note on the 1st half is what on earth were Southport playing at when Bakare (No19) came back on? The physio indicated that he needed to be subbed, yet he came back on and proceeded to sit half way up the Barrow half. Barrow rightly played on as it was clearly only time wasting and he was not in need of treatment as he had just had it on the touchline. When it did go out of play he stood up and walked off, Southport did not even have a sub ready in all that time and had to play on with 10 men.

The 2nd started with Southport doing the more of the same harassing of anyone on the ball and Poku continued to go unpunished despite giving away more free kicks for petty tackles. When Southport got their 2nd corner of the game again they scored... correction Anderson put it in his own goal from another in-swinging corner from the left right. 2-0 to Southport. At that point Southport committed suicide against a side desperate to play football instead of huffing it at the first sign of a dangerous tackle. Then Jackson came on for Rowe as Barrow went from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 against Southport's 5-3-2. Harvey came on and things really started to tick as he picked out player after player with some neat passes. With Jackson and Almond moving about all the time and Boyes swinging from one side to the other to pick up where the play was, Southport's cramped back line came apart as they all left Boyes for one another and he sailed though to put the ball under the keeper and in from the left side of goal 2-1. Barrow where back in it and more than they knew, Southport were completely defensive since the substitutions and Barrow had acres of space to pass from one side to the other in midfield. Southport continued to time waste and the ref had a good word with the team captain over one such incident at a throw-in. Hessey came on for Skelton and his passing from the back added to the dominant possession at this point. Barrow went on to equalise with Boyes' 2nd of the game. It looked like the opportunity had gone but Boyes took his time on the left of the goal close in turned and flicked it into the net from just outside the 6 yard box. The ground was rocking at this point and it looked like there was only going to be one winner and there was as Barrow won with a Baker drive from 30 yards. A high ball from midfield was poorly headed clear by the Southport defence. Boyes picked it up only a few yards away from the defender, he played a square ball to the advancing Baker who took a touch and curled his shot past the keeper who was off his line. 3-2 to Barrow. Southport won a late corner and everyone in the ground audibly sighed but they did not score. Almond showed them how to time waste and held the ball by the corner flag winning a series of free kicks. In the second there were a few penalty shouts as Almond was pulled back when dribbling round a defender and Whalley dived like a whale twice in the Barrow area.

Barrow 3-2 Southport
Lynch
Anderson (og)
Boyes 2
Baker

Att: 924 (48 from Southport?)

Fantastic fightback and good atmosphere, calm evening no wind and rain, really good night.

[Angela]

Great comeback and everything but are defending from corners is shocking.
I've lost count of the goals Danny Hurst has cost us this season from corners.They all seem to be Headers in the six yard box and he stays routed to his line every-time.
We lost nearly every header from corners and free-kicks tonight, he's gotta start coming off his line.

think Rutherford knocked off line after Tamworth had a corner, before we got another goal the other end - defending for Hurst? - Hurst great at stopping/saving - saw a couple at Braintree

[Barrow Bluebirds]

A win on Saturday could maybe see us move up to 10th...happy days

[K_BFC]

A win on Saturday could maybe see us move up to 10th...happy days

Admire the enthusiasm, but we would have to win by 8 goals and hope any of the teams between us and 10th don't get sufficient points and goals to stop us. It would turn out to be a remarkable 7 days in Barrow's season if that happened.

With Hereford v Braintree, Gateshead v Cambridge and Woking v Southport sitting between us and 10th, everyone else playing someone outside 10th to 19th (where Barrow are), I would guess 13th is the best we could hope for even if 10th is mathematically possible.

[Optimism]

A special Holker St night emerged from the gloom in a breathless final 20 minutes.

Up until then, apart from an encouraging spell 10 minutes before half time, we'd been poor. We didn't win enough first or second ball as our limited but sturdy visitors retained possession well and pressed enthusiastically in defence. Baker and Hunter together were inferior to their opposite numbers, and any sparks of potential came through Louis Almond dropping deep to stitch midfield to attack.

Despite the end magnificence, Bayles will be vexed that two bad goals were conceded through slack corner marking. Fines await! Generally, the defence seemed circumspect. I agree that Peo isn't at the level he was pre-injury. Matt Flynn's distribution was wayward. With the central midfield two in clear second place and Boyes barely getting a kick, it was pretty hapless stuff. The post denied a hat trick of goals from corners and surely the rocket of all rockets from an incandesant Bayles...

Enter the changes - of personnel, strategy and mindset. Joe Jackson gave a more physical presence than Boyesy had, and Alex Ray Harvey played intelligently in place of the disappointing Gary Hunter. He did the simple things well - getting and giving unfussily and sharply while assisting in breaking up Southport's shrunken midfield (which, overly cautiously, had oddly dropped a man with the intention of solidifying their defence). I think he's a better option alongside Baker.

It hadn't looked like happening - then it did! Baker - having one of his more lethargic and leaden footed nights - is always good value for a telling contribution up the field, and his deft pass guided in Adam Boyes who clinically rolled home left footed from 10 yards. One chance, one goal. With the recent Braintree heroics providing inspiration and euphoria, Barrow sensed more. A faster tempo, sharper movement, and decent probing ball into the box rocked a nervous and deep Southport. After a round of box pin ball, Adam Boyes showed his finishing prowess again with a superbly executed guide over the keeper on the volley from 12 yards. Two chances, two goals on an otherwise quiet night for the lad. Earning his money.

There was, amazingly, still time for a wonderous finish. Richie Baker. Unconvincing doing the scrapping, always liable to provide in attack. When the ball broke 30 yards out, aided by the visitors hanging back, he swiftly darted inside, and arrowed past McMillan's left from 25 yards. Great moment!

We were so efficient with the comeback that we still had a nervy 5 minutes of injury time to see through, including two palpitation-inducing corners.

It shouldn't have to be this way, but it's undeniably exciting! "Routine" home win on Saturday?

[phil]

Harvey definitely made a huge impact for me, came on and did the job Hunter had been trying but failing to do, the whole team had confidence as soon as Harvey did his first couple of touches and looked safe as houses, rather than trying to cover Hunter. Hessey also gave us some much needed aggression for me.

MOM Almond for me, the only one who shone the whole match, if Harvey can replicate every week what he did in the second half then he won't be here in January.

Proper entertainment though