TONY Callister praised the passing display from Barrow AFC under-18s as they overcame Altrincham 4-0 in their North West Youth Alliance First Division East opener on Sunday.

Two goals from Jamie Hodgson, plus one from Ben Phizacklea and an own goal accounted for the Bluebirds' tally in the match at Furness Building Society Stadium.

But while the result was pleasing on its own, Barrow Performance Centre head Callister was even more impressed with the way the team went about ensuring the victory.

“The passing and the movement was exceptional, which is more pleasing to me because they're doing the basics right,” said Callister.

“They're not playing long balls and they're not losing the ball, they were very much ball down, head up and playing simple passes, and sometimes certain passes were played across the park diagonally. It was very pleasing and they played in a very mature way.

“They're still young lads and although they're coming up to adulthood, they're still developing in their game of football.

“However, I was very pleased with the pass and move football they showed and that's down to continued work pre-season with (manager) Craig Rutherford and the coaches.”

Barrow's youngsters do not have a game this weekend due to being given a bye in the FA Youth Cup, returning to action when they travel to AFC Rochdale Town on Sunday, September 4.

Calliser cautioned that the team cannot be expected to produce results like the one against Altrincham every week due to the standard of teams they will be facing.

But it is a promising start nonetheless and he expects there is much more to come from this group of players.

“There's more to do, obviously, in what they can do in their journey in their football careers, but there are going to be tougher games,” said Callister.

“We don't expect games where we're going to be winning quite handsomely, we're going to be coming up against some tough opposition. But again, we are looking to develop these players further and it's just the start.

It's key that they do the right things, that they're not picking up any bad habits anywhere and they continue to do the right things. On Sunday, they showed that and they got the result.

“But we don't get carried away because we known we've got some tough trips away and we know there are some seasoned teams with a little bit of history behind them who we will be playing.”

Read more: Barrow AFC Performance Centre ready for next step