PAUL Cox feared a total mauling as his Barrow AFC side stumbled out of the blocks against Cheltenham, writes PAUL TURNER.

The Bluebirds were a goal down in less than a minute and for the first-half hour were overwhelmed by opponents gunning for promotion.

Cheltenham missed a penalty and had a goal chalked off for a foul within the opening half-hour before Cox made a double substitution which changed the course of the game.

AFC eventually lost out 2-1 after Simon Grand had netted an equaliser but Asa Hall responded five minutes later deep into the second half.

It was a result which left Cox frustrated once more at his side’s inability to build on solid comebacks, though he had feared the result might have been beyond them in the early going.

“After 30 minutes, I thought we were looking at conceding double figures,” said Cox, who brought on winger Dan Pilkington and forward Ashley Grimes for central defender Steve Williams and midfielder David Mellor on 32 minutes and switched from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 formation.

“I had to do something about it. It’s not very nice when you have to make a substitution so quickly, but I thought the shape of the side was wrong – and that’s my fault, it’s no-one else’s fault. I take the blame for that.

“We had to act quickly and from then onwards, I thought we finished the half well, positively and I thought we bossed the second half for 40 minutes.

“We got back into the game against a very good side who know what they’re about, who know they are very close to getting promoted. But a lack of concentration in the last couple of minutes once again costs us when we should be sitting here talking about what would have been a very good point against a team who could possibly win this championship.”

Cox had started the match with three men in the heart of central defence in Williams, Grand and Danny Livesey. He also deployed Mellor alongside Andy Parry and the returning Paddy Lacey in a compact midfield three.

It was a formation designed to blunt the visitors, but it failed to work as they dominated the opening period of the game and left the Bluebirds looking outclassed.

The manager admitted he had hoped it would pay off, but quickly knew it was not working.

“Sometimes you’ve got to be brave,” he said. “If I have made a mistake, I will openly admit it to everybody. That’s how I want my players to be – I like players to be honest with us if they have not been at the races.

“We have played a number of games and been on the road and I thought one or two players, people like Pilkington, were feeling it.

“We looked at the different shape, we looked at people who had done well against Cheltenham and we made the change. But it wasn’t right after 20 minutes, 25 minutes, and I had to make some big decisions. It’s not very nice for the two lads who have come off, because I don’t think either were playing particularly badly, but someone has to be the scapegoat.”

He added: “I thought I had got it wrong with the formation. I can either sit there and worry about the end product, or you can be brave. We’ve done it a few times – at Gateshead, we made big decisions when we were 1-0 down – and sometimes you’ve got to go and try and win a football match, We’re at home, the fans are behind us, and you’ve got to give them something to be positive about.

“As a manager, I’m a human being and I got it wrong with the shape. Saying that, there were still 11 players on the pitch and I don’t think we could have been any poorer for the first half-hour. It needed to be done, we did it, and we should be sat here with a point right now.”