BARROW AFC manager Ian Evatt believes his side can be a match for anyone in the National League if they continue to perform in the manner they did in their victory against Maidenhead.

The Bluebirds ended a five-match winless run with a dominant 2-0 win against the Magpies at Holker Park, in a match where the final margin could have been even wider.

They’ll now have the chance to make it back-to-back victories when they host Gateshead tonight, as they look to make it five wins from seven home games.

They will be hosting visitors high on confidence, following their emphatic 3-0 victory at Chesterfield last weekend, but Evatt is confident his players will be the ones on the front foot.

Evatt said: “They had a good result and they, as all teams are in this league, are going to be a tough challenge.

“But I’ve said many times that I firmly believe that if we play the way we can play, we can be more than a match for any team.

“We can control the control-ables, so to speak, and if we perform to our levels, we can win the game, it’s as simple as that.”

And manager Evatt was delighted to see his side’s performances finally get some reward against Maidenhead, after a month when Lady Luck seemed to have been against them.

From John Rooney’s last-gasp penalty miss against Solihull to Kieran Murtagh’s late bolt from the blue denying them all three points at Boreham Wood, AFC were due a change in their fortunes.

However, the fact there was nothing fortunate about last Saturday’s win - and that result has done wonders for a young squad’s confidence, with the average age of the starting line-up that day just a youthful 22 years and five months.

Evatt said: “Obviously I was delighted for the players, more than anything.

“I think it had been a few weeks in coming – we’ve been playing very well in games and barring a couple of missed penalties, some missed chances and a 30-yard wonder strike with 30 seconds to go, we’d probably have nine or 10 more points.

“It was obviously pleasing to get the win and in the first half I thought we were exceptional.

“We’ll look to maintain doing what we’re doing and we’re improving gradually.

“We have a style of play that’s obviously very pleasing on the eye and it was nice to be able to score early on in the game and manage the game, moving forwards.

“We took advantage on the counter attack, which we’re going to do with the players we’ve got and the pace we’ve got in the team.”