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| The Furness Building Society Stadium |
I have officially just completed my third season reporting on Barrow matches for The Bay and I must say that it has probably had the most twists and turns for the Bluebirds out of the three.
Of course it was always going to take one hell of a performance to beat Barrow’s spectacular 2010 FA Trophy winning season, but there were glimmers of pure magic and moments of anguish during the latest campaign.
It
seems that Barrow Manager Dave Bayliss seems to agree with my
assessment as he told me it was a very "Barrow-like" season with many
twists and turns in my interview for The Bay's Goalzone recorded after
their 3-1 win over Newport County.
So to reflect on what has been an action packed season, I’m using a
framework that may have been effectively overused over the last few
decades, but I don’t think anything sums up Barrow’s season much better
than The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
The Good
The Blue Square Bet Premier is becoming tougher every season, not only on the pitch, but for some teams contending with finance off the pitch.
There
is clearly a gulf between those who “have” and “don’t have” the
resources to create large squads, which makes the task that bit harder
to try and achieve. For Barrow, they proved that with the limited
resources, they continously punch high above their weight.
The
highlights of the season were definitely the giant killing home
performances over the Blue Square Bet Premier’s Big Boys.
Barrow’s 4-0 victory over Fleetwood Town was a sensational way to start the season back in August, with Andy Cook scoring a hatrick and every player peforming at their very best.
Barrow’s 4-0 victory over Fleetwood Town was a sensational way to start the season back in August, with Andy Cook scoring a hatrick and every player peforming at their very best.
This was quickly backed up with a win over high flying Wrexham who had not lost a single match until they played Barrow at the Furness Building Society Stadium.
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| War of the Roses: Barrow Fan's Banner at York City match |
There
was even a hint a sweet irony for Barrow fans as former star striker
Jason Walker was sent off on his return to Holker Street with York
City.
Another
lasting memory of this season has to be the solid home form as the
newly named Furness Building Society Stadium was turned into a fortress.
The Bluebirds managed to secure 12 home victories in the league this season and importantly were able to grind out 1-0 wins against Lincoln City and Alfreton Town on cold, wet and windy Tuesday evenings.
The Bluebirds managed to secure 12 home victories in the league this season and importantly were able to grind out 1-0 wins against Lincoln City and Alfreton Town on cold, wet and windy Tuesday evenings.
Fans were even allowed to dare to dream of the play-offs after a dream run of form which began with a 3-2 win over Tamworth
in January and marked the start of 7 matches undefeated, earning Dave
Bayliss Blue Square Bet Premier Manager of the Month in February.
It
also must be celebrated that 13th place was the best league finish for
Barrow since being re-promoted to the Conference Premier four seasons
ago. The team reached 50 points comfortably and managed to achieve the
golden target of 60 on the final day of the campaign with a 3-1 win over
Newport County. This has been a creditable effort considering how young
the squad are.
Outside of the league, the stand out cup performance was Barrow’s 4-1 win over Witton Albion with Adam Boyes scoring 4 goals after the Bluebirds initially going 1-0 down.
The high point of the season on the fans' performance was definately in Barrow's 3-0 over financial strugglers Darlington who had been plummeted into administration earlier that week.
The
Bluebirds' fans held up a banner: Football clubs are for life, not just
business. This became a mark of solidarity between the two sets of fans
that will be remembered by both for a very long time.
The Bad
There’s always one soul destroying moment for any team in the football season and for Barrow it was the 2-1 defeat to Rotherham
in the FA Cup 1st Round. Paul Rutherford scored to put the Bluebirds,
but two late goals from Lewis Garbban, one which was deemed that Guy
Branston had returned from an offside position in the build up.
The team played their socks off and were cruelly robbed in the end. I spoke to defender Gavin Skelton after the match and he was extremely disappointed:
Another cruel twist of fate came in Barrow’s away match at AFC Telford United when
they lost 1-0 to a ghost goal that didn’t cross the goal line. There
were some hammerings like the 5-1 defeat to Luton Town that hurt, but
with an injury hit squad and the inability to fill the bench, it’s times
like this when a team can do nothing but just grin and bear it.
For me, there were opportunities missed in the local away matches to Southport and Stockport which were both winnable games that resulted in defeat.
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| Barrow warming up ahead of their match with Stockport County |
The Ugly
Now
for the sharp intake of breath as we move on to the ugly – and there
have been a few real ugly moments. The season’s grabbing headline was
the departure of Darren Sheridan.
After
four years as a joint manager at the club and working alongside Dave
Bayliss for all of that time, it seemed strange to only have the one
manager at the club after a lengthy spell.
It
seemed sad that the partnership had to end in such an abrupt manner
after the team had steadily progressed each campaign under the joint
bosses.
I
think why this subject has made the “ugly” category is the unresolved
nature of the situation with no explanation of why Sheridan was
suspended or mutually left the club. I guess for fans it will be a great
mystery that we will never probably ever solve….
On the pitch, there were some disappointing performances and defeats, with a 5-2 defeat away at Grimsby being the most memorable.
A low point was getting knocked out of the FA Trophy in the early rounds against Wealdstone in a performance that was so disappointing, the managers went on the bus to apologise to the away fans.
The
defeat was made even worse with the horrible injury that
goalkeeper Danny Hurst sustained in the match and was out for the next
two months. This was truly a missed opportunity to progress deep into
the FA Trophy competition.
What
will be in the forefront of the fans' minds for now is that after the
dream run of 7 games undefeated in January and February and just 4
points off the play-off positions, Barrow went into freefall at the end
of the season. The horrible turning point came on a wet and windy
Tuesday evening match when they lost 1-0 to Bath City.
This
started a run of 7 consecutive losses, 7 games without a single goal
scored for Barrow and included a humiliating 7-0 thrashing away at Mansfield Town.
Perhaps
it was mid-table syndrome that upset Barrow's rhythm right at the end,
but they managed to end the season on a positive note with draws against
Southport, Kettering and win over Newport.
Moving
forward, it seems that big changes are coming at Holker Street. Dave
Bayliss told me in my post-match interview after their defeat to Cambridge United.
Barrow v Cambridge: Dave Bayliss Interview by amyscarisbrick
Since the interview, Barrow have released five players from the team: Phil Bolland, Paul Smith, Kelvin Lomax, Andy Nicholas and Cliff Moyo. Contracts have been offered or already secured for the majority of the squad. This clearly shows that Barrow are in need of defenders with four being released this season.
Since the interview, Barrow have released five players from the team: Phil Bolland, Paul Smith, Kelvin Lomax, Andy Nicholas and Cliff Moyo. Contracts have been offered or already secured for the majority of the squad. This clearly shows that Barrow are in need of defenders with four being released this season.
The show must go on!
Barrow
fans must take heart on what has overall been a very successful season.
The Bluebirds have safely secured another season in the Conference
Premier and were not involved in the relegation dogfight to stay up,
which is a vast improvement from last season.
Another
positive to bear in mind was the squad were young and inexperienced and
performed well throughout the season as a whole, especially against the
big teams.
There
needs to be changes to the squad and there will probably be a reliance
on loan players again next season, but this is the best league
performance we have seen in the Bayliss/Sheridan era.
Overall,
this season had some very high points and some very low points, there
was no happy medium in between. Let’s see if there’s the same amount of
drama as we head into the new season…
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