PAUL Cox hailed the magic of the FA Cup as Barrow made history with their second-round win at Bristol Rovers.

Cox is already dreaming of a third round tie against one of two Uniteds – Newcastle or Manchester – after Byron Harrison twice scored to sealed a superb victory at the Memorial Stadium.

League One Bristol Rovers, some 40 places above AFC in the footballing pyramid, had taken the lead through Rory Gaffney, but Harrison struck once in each half to send the 374 travelling supporters into ecstasy.

“It was a great day,” said Cox, who was the subject of numerous national TV and radio interviews in the aftermath of the triumph. “It just shows the magic of the FA Cup. I’m so proud of the lads and everyone associated with the club.

“The players dug in, showed immense character coming from a goal down, and the pressure we were put under at the end, there were some huge hearts out there.

“The support we got today as well, everything was excellent about it.”

Cox was especially pleased with the way his side came back from the 10th-minute setback of going behind to Gaffney’s goal, and added: “We spoke about it before the game, in terms of keeping the first 15 minutes tight – but that went straight out of the window.

“This group have a never-say-die attitude, not just today, but for the 21 games unbeaten (in the National League and FA Cup). We keep trying to raise the bar, but the players keep reaching it. The frightening thing is that they are still growing, some of them. The potential is amazing.

“I think we just have to enjoy days like this, It’s a nice healthy diversion from the league. We have to concentrate now, enjoy the draw, hope the boys get the draw they deserve, but then get their feet back down for next Saturday and the FA Trophy game, and the very important league games to follow.”

Barrow battled through the final 15 minutes to hold on to the victory as Gaffney hit the bar and several Rovers team-mates spurned other chances of an equaliser for the home side.

But AFC thoroughly deserved their win on the back of sterling work in defence from the likes of Danny Livesey and Moussa Diarra, as well as goalkeeper Tim Erlandsson.

Cox added: “This was not a fluke, no-one could say we were flukey today.

“There were parts of our game which I thought were possibly missing today. I thought we played the occasion sometimes rather than the game, but when we scored the second goal, I never really thought that we were going to concede.

“The boys were throwing their bodies in the way of shots, there were some tired legs out there late on, and I’m losing words for the boys because they keep going from strength to strength. I’m just so proud of them.

“I’m hoping we’ve made the supporters who travelled down in so many numbers on a cold, freezing day happy. They deserve a massive pat on the back for their part in it as well.”