17th August 2019

In a hotly contested opening 45 minutes, chances were at a premium as Lawson D’Ath and John Rooney produced the only chances of note for their respective sides. 

With the referee’s pocket seeing more action than anyone else, the deadlock was finally broken on 46 minutes when Scott Quigley showed his strength in the box to fire home.

Unable to find a response at the other end, the one goal proved to be enough for Barrow who marked the 40th anniversary of the National League with a victory over the green and whites as they did in the inaugural fixture in 1979.

Forced into two changes from the midweek win at Ebbsfleet, the injured duo of Lee Collins and Rhys Murphy dropped out as Carl Dickinson took the captain’s armband and Remeao Hutton – who netted on Tuesday night – came into the starting 11.

Gabby Rogers and Olly McCoy were recalled amongst the substitutes, whilst newest recruits Marcin Brzozowski and Charlie Lee once again started from the bench. 

With a national audience watching on television, the green and whites almost made the BT Sport subscription worthwhile for Town fans in the opening five minutes through D’Ath. 

Winning possession in the Bluebirds’ half after good pressing from Tom Whelan, he set his midfield partner charging in on Joel Dixon’s goal where the Yeovil man eventually shot into the home keeper’s arms from 20 yards.

Losing some of their early momentum when forced to play with 10 men for five minutes after Craig Alcock received an elbow to the face – an incident that didn’t interest referee Peter Gibbons – Barrow then had a chance of their own.

Winning possession in similar circumstances to D’Ath’s earlier opportunity, Lewis Hardcastle fed John Rooney who curled a strike just wide to the delight of a diving Stuart Nelson. 

With Rooney then firing a tame free-kick into the side netting from an acute angle just past the 15-minute mark, shots on goal then dried up as it became a stop-start affair.

The referee’s whistle stopped any tempo to the match in a tempestuous contest in Cumbria, with four yellow cards shared out in the opening 45 minutes with plenty of clash points. 

Unable to produce anything else of note in front of goal, both sides huffed and puffed but walked in even-stevens at the halfway stage.

After a half of football to forget, the Bluebirds set about making the second more memorable almost instantly with an opener inside a minute. 

A long throw into the box found Quigley who wriggled into enough space to slam a strike into the bottom corner in front of the cameras.

Dealt that blow early in the second half, Town’s management didn’t take long to make an attacking change as Ryan Seager replaced Hutton in an alteration that saw Myles Hippolyte move to left wing-back. 

However, it was Barrow’s front three who continued to cause problems and it was only poor finishing that stopped the hosts from extending their lead. 

When Oliver Dyson’s pull-back to Dior Angus found the striker inside the six-yard box it looked certain to be a second goal, only for the striker to somehow lift his effort up and over the bar with 25 minutes left to play.

Surviving that scare, Lee was introduced for his second appearance in green and white as Sarll switched to 4-3-3 in search of a foothold in the match.

Still unable to put the Bluebirds under any real pressure it was the Cumbrians who continued to threaten in the final third, with Oliver Dyson their brightest spark. 

The attacker somehow weaved his way to the byline on 77 minutes to fire the ball across the face of goal with Quigley unable to kill the game off with a touch from close range. 

Somewhat wasteful in the second half, Ian Evatt’s side weren’t made to rue missed chances as the Glovers failed to muster a late rally, falling to a first defeat since the opening day.

Barrow: Dixon; Barry, Hird, Taylor, Brown; Rooney, Greaves (Waddington 90′), Hardcastle; Angus (Hindle 72′), Quiqley, Dyson.
Bookings: Taylor 44′, Hardcastle 53′, Dixon 90′.
Subs not used: Eldson, Granite, Penfold.

Yeovil Town: Nelson; Skendi, Dickinson, Bradbury; Alcock, Worthington (Lee 65′), Whelan, Hutton (Seager 56′); D’Ath (McCoy 79′); Hippolyte, Duffus.
Bookings: Skendi 17′, Hutton 30′, Bradbury 37′, Lee 74′.
Subs not used: Brzozowski, Rogers.