Town went into the game on the back of 3 convincing wins scoring 11 and conceding 1. On paper against Barrow who sat bottom of the table it was 3 comfortable home points but Barrow’s recent form suggested otherwise losing by the odd goal to high flying St Andrews, Anstey Town and Houghton.
Town were once again without the injured Ross Proud but were also missing Aiden Ramkissoon and Sam Jayes. It was Town who were out of the blocks quickest and within 8 minutes were 1 up when Hardy broke down the left and chipped the ball back across goal for Jelly to meet with a perfectly placed header. Surely this was the start of a thrashing but Town couldn’t take control of the game and Barrow’s midfield began to dominate on a very difficult pitch. That being said the best chance of the half fell to Jelly when he collected the ball on the right side of the area, turned the defender and from 8 yards with the empty net in front of him, managed to put the ball wide. The next chance fell to Hardy who turned the same defender 3 times before his tame effort rolled through to the keeper. At the other end Smith did well to parry a deflected effort wide of the post. Smith again came to the rescue saving a one on one. HT 1-0.
The second half began with Town on the back foot. Barrow continued to dominate the midfield battle and Town struggled to put 2 passes together. Once again the best chance fell to Town when Pullen met a corner but his header hit the bar. 5 minutes later it was Silk whose effort came back off the woodwork. Towns defence were coming under increasing pressure and had done well to keep hold of the lead but with 20 minutes remaining Barrow equalised when Town failed to clear a corner and the Barrow midfielder hammered home from close range. At last this seemed to spark Town into life coupled with Frost and Toone entering the fray. Town began to keep the ball better and started to apply the pressure in search of the winner. They were almost caught with a sucker punch when Ramkissoon cleared off the line but in truth if there was to be a winner it was surely Town who were going to get it. The winner came with 6 minutes remaining when once again Hardy was the provider as he beat his full back and squared for Jelly to hammer home from close range. Town saw the game out with ease and had got out of jail taking 3 points from a poor performance. Town owe the win to a gutsy performance from the back 4 but will have to improve drastically for the trip to table topping Barlestone next week followed by Premier division Kirby Muxloe in the quarter final of the cup a week later. FT LTFC 2-1 Barrow Town Reserves.
