The Bluebirds produced an excellent performance as they claimed a point away to Crawley Town.
Pete Wild made three changes to the side which was on the end of a 3-0 defeat on Saturday with Dom Telford, Kian Spence, and Luca Stephenson all coming into the starting XI.
The game began with both sides defending well in the first ten minutes, with the Bluebirds fighting hard to win the midfield battle. The Cumbrians created the first chance to score in the game when Robbie Gotts' low cross bobbled through the Crawley defence into the path of Luca Stephenson, who managed to drive the ball low and hard towards the Red Devils' net, but it was saved well by the feet of Corey Addai.
The Bluebirds continued to push for an opener as the half progressed and made a breakthrough ten minutes before half-time when Elliott Newby ran down the left wing and produced a sumptuous cross into the box, that found the head of Emile Acquah who rose higher than the Crawley defender to head the ball into the bottom right corner.
With the first half coming to a close Paul Farman was called upon to make sure the Bluebirds went into halftime with a lead when Klaidi Lolos took on a volley from close range, but Farman saved well to give Wild’s men the lead at halftime.
As the second half developed, Crawley began to heighten their attacking prowess and in doing so were awarded a penalty after the referee consulted with the linesman after an alleged handball by Rory Feely. Danilo Orsi then stepped up to take the spot kick and dispatched the ball neatly in the bottom right corner.
Barrow came agonisingly close to gaining the lead again after Addai made a triple save in the Crawley net, following a Gotts cross into the Crawley box, with efforts from James Chester, Kian Spence, and Niall Canavan all stopped.
With the game intensifying, the Bluebirds thought they’d won it when Newby smashed the ball home on 90 minutes, but the referee pulled it back for a foul in the build-up.
But with the final whistle minutes away, Lolos had a chance to win it for Crawley following a curving cross from Harry Forster, he managed to get his head on the end of the cross, but the ball landed just wide.
And that proved to be the final chance of the game, with a first-half strike from Emile Acquah earning a point for the Cumbrians. This result extended Barrow’s gap to eighth place to three points.
Starting XI: Farman, Campbell, Canavan, Spence, Newby, Gotts (Foley 81’), Chester, Stephenson (Worrall 81’), Telford (Whitfield 69’), Acquah (Proctor 73’), Feely.
Words by Dylan Whitbread
