Last updated at 17:10, Wednesday, 02 May 2012

BARROW AFC can look back on the 2011/12 season with great pride, while at the same time wondering what might have been.

CUP CRACKER: Paul Rutherford puts AFC 1-0 up against Rotherham

Just four points adrift of the play-off places following a superb 2-1 victory at Kidderminster Harriers on March 3, the Bluebirds looked set to push for a top-five finish in Blue Square Bet Premier.

But, just 72 hours of Twitter-related #playoffpush hype later, manager Dave Bayliss and his troops were brought back down to earth with an ugly bump when bottom-of-the-table Bath City won 1-0 at Furness Building Society Stadium.

It was the beginning of a miserable 10-game winless run – which included a woeful 7-0 battering at Mansfield – that was broken only on the last day of the season when Newport County succumbed 3-1 in South Cumbria.

But to let that terrible run of form – Barrow took just two points from a possible 30 – tarnish an otherwise wonderful season of progression would be harsh.

Let’s not forget that AFC’s 13th place finish and 60-point total – achieved on one of the smallest budgets in non-league’s top-flight – is their best return since promotion four years ago.

Back in August and September, a new-look, youthful Barrow outfit began the season with five wins from their opening 12 games. Among them was a memorable 4-0 victory over eventual-champions Fleetwood Town, when striker Andy Cook bagged a hat-trick, and a 3-1 triumph, again at home, over big-guns Wrexham.

Away day thrashings at Luton and Grimsby were less impressive, though a 4-1 win at minnows Witton Albion in the FA Cup, when an on-fire Adam Boyes became the first Barrow player since Neil Morton in 1997 to hit four goals in a competitive match, gave 400-plus travelling fans plenty to cheer.

That set up a home tie against League One Rotherham United in the first round and a bumper crowd of 3,030 – Barrow’s biggest in 20 months – flooded through the turnstiles to see the hosts come within nine minutes of a famous FA Cup upset.

The Bluebirds deservedly led for much of the game thanks to a 16th-minute Paul Rutherford strike, but two controversial late Lewis Grabban goals, the second of which was a penalty, robbed AFC of victory.

Two games later, in a goalless home draw against York City, Barrow lost their phenomenal record of scoring in 22 consecutive matches. The league campaign continued, and while things progressed along there merry way at home – AFC went six months unbeaten in Blue Square Bet Premier at Furness Building Society Stadium between September 17 and the Bath game on March 6 – things on the road went less smoothly.

The worst away day of the whole season came in January when a passionless display resulted in an FA Trophy second round exit at the hands of lower-league Wealdstone.

Soon after, joint-manager Darren Sheridan was suspended by the club following an allegation made against him. On February 11, the 44-year-old left by mutual consent after five years at Barrow, with the club refusing to give any further details.

Bayliss, now flying solo, won three of his first four games in sole charge, against Kettering, Luton and Kidderminster, scooping the manager-of-the-month awards for February in the process.

The award curse, however, struck with vengeance when the Bluebirds lost against Bath and so started a 10-game winless run that saw them fall way from the play-off picture.

Off the field, drawings of a potential new £9m football stadium at Holker Street were revealed. Supporters are still awaiting news from the club as to whether the plans will become a reality.

Attendances too – as always – have proved a major talking point, with Barrow recording a home league average of around 1,200 in 2011/12 – a figure very similar to the previous season.

Bayliss, meanwhile, faces a summer of wheeling and dealing as he shapes together a squad for what will be a club-record fifth successive season in the top division of non-league football.

FOR THE RECORD - 2011/12 STATS

Most goals scored (all competitions) Adam Boyes (22).

Most goals scored (league): Andy Cook (17).

Home league record: W 12, D 6, L 5, F 39 A 35, Pts 42.

Away league record: W 5, D 3, L 15, F 23, A 51, Pts 18.

Biggest win: 4-0 (v Fleetwood).

Heaviest defeat: 7-0 (v Mansfield).

Most appearances: Jack Mackreth (49).

Biggest home attendance: 3,030 (v Rotherham in FA Cup).

Smallest home attendance: 868 (v Harrogate Town in FA Trophy).

First published at 13:40, Wednesday, 02 May 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk