One of those games that you never forget if you were there.
Spot on. None of us will.
Probably the most remarkable game I have ever seen in the flesh, with only Southampton coming close. The character the players showed today was immense, but in truth, this was another game we dominated for long periods and the incredible finale should never have been necessary. We were the better side over ninety minutes and to be 3-1 down at that stage was a travesty. Barrow were very poor and we had enough of the ball, and enough chances, to have put the game out of sight before they scored their second.
The first half was fairly tight, but we played the better football and created more chances. There was a contrast in styles between the two teams, with Rovers constructing through midfield - which was good today - and Barrow going long to Cook virtually every time.
In the second period we completely dominated but could not find a second goal, a familiar story. Barrow's equalizer resulted from virtually their first attack of the half, and I was too far away to say whether or not it was a penalty. After the goal we showed good spirit, continued to dominate, but got caught on the counter attack twice. The pattern of the game was similar to Woking away, with Rovers clearly the better footballing side, creating numerous chances, failing to take them and getting punished.
With ninety minutes up we all thought Rovers were finished and there was indeed a great deal of frustration directed at Brabin, understandably so given that it has been like Groundhog Day watching Rovers this season.
However, after Maynard scored what appeared to be an excellent consolation, we threw shape and tactics out of the window and went for it. The next five minutes were a blur, but all of our goals were good finishes and credit in particular should be given to Jake Kirby, who demonstrated why he should have featured in the first team more often in recent weeks.
Individually, in the ninety minutes, I thought Harris and Jennings both had decent games, and Hughes again showed his quality and was increasingly influential as the game wore on. Mekki was good again, as was McNulty. I thought Vaughan also had his best game for us at right back. In the final five minutes I would give credit to the entire eleven for showing fantastic spirit: they clearly recognised the importance of winning this game and were obviously determined to get a result for their manager.
Just as the Portsmouth game completely destroyed our confidence last season, hopefully this result can give us a springboard to get into the play-offs. However, I still don't think that will happen until we learn how to convert our domination of possession into goals, something that will not be helped by Norwood's injury, which looks likely to keep him out for several weeks.
Many of the Rovers fans left after the third goal went in. Those that remained might go down in folklore as the 'Barrow 200'.
