BARROW AFC manager Paul Cox praised his side’s commanding second-half performance in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Welling at Park View Road.

The 44-year-old was pleased to claim a first away victory since taking over as Bluebirds boss in November.

Goals from Danny Livesey and Ashley Grimes – on a rare start – saw AFC beat their relegation-threaten hosts.

“I thought we perhaps lacked a bit of tempo in the first half and were not playing quite to the level I knew we could,” said Cox after a result which moved his side up to 16th, nine points clear of the drop zone.

“We had a few words with the boys at half-time though and I think we came out and totally dominated the second half.

“Our second-half performance certainly ranks up there with one of the best displays I have seen since arriving at the club. We looked full of power and created numerous chances.

“I think the only black mark that you can put against us was that we should have scored more goals.

“In truth we could have easily made the scoreline look a lot better from our perspective and we still need to work on being more clinical in front of goal.”

The win was a first in the league for Barrow since their 2-1 victory against Woking in Cox's first game in charge.

The manager hopes his side can take momentum from the display, and said: “Welling is a hard place to come to, especially when you are attacking up the hill in the second half but the boys have certainly shown everyone what they are capable of.

“Now that we have got a win under our belts I hope that the boys can find some consistency to take us forward because we have still got a long way to go this season.”

He added: “When you look at the period that we have just been through you must bear in mind that that we have only had two home games as well as having numerous injuries. This has meant that we have had to throw some of the kids into the side.

“We have taken a bit of stick every now and again and quite rightly so because some of the performances like the Tranmere game were really disappointing and we played a type of football that shouldn’t be seen at this level.

“We are building here and the chairman is realistic. He knows that we need to lay some strong foundations before we can even think about progression.

“We are certainly doing that and I think a lot of people will see real progression over the next six to 12 months. We will inevitably take a few bloody noses along the way though and people have got to realise that.”