PAUL Cox felt his Barrow side should have been home and hosed long before battling to earn three points against Solihull Moors.

The Bluebirds extended their unbeaten National League run to 15 matches – a club record for the division, beating the mark set in 1984 – with a 2-1 success at Holker Street .

Moussa Diarra and Byron Harrison headed Barrow into a two-goal lead in a three-minute first-half spell, and AFC had numerous chances to put the game to bed.

However, they failed to do so, and Moors came back through an Akwaise Asante strike and had the home side under pressure for the final half-hour of the game.

While delighted to have picked up the win – and urging his players to appreciate their success – Cox admitted it was match which could have been a far smoother ride for Barrow.

“For 60 minutes, I thought the game should have been put to bed,” he said. “We probably should have scored more than the two in the first half and the first part of the second half. How we missed some of the chances, I’m not quite sure.

“It gives Solihull a lifeline. They’ve picked their game up, scored a very good goal, and all of a sudden it’s game-on.

“A little bit of anxiety develops in your play and a game that looked so comfortable becomes very tight.

“We’re not going to get our own way all the time. I was pleased with the boys’ endeavour, their desire, their running, it’s just sometimes you have to kill teams off. I think we had enough chances to win three football matches today, and some of them were probably easier to score, especially in the second half.

“But I’m not going to moan. It’s another win, it’s another game unbeaten. We’ve beaten a side who are having a good season in the FA Cup and in their first season back in this league. We’re not going to turn our noses up at anything.

“Once again, I applaud the boys for winning another football match.”

Cox praised goalkeeper Joel Dixon, who pulled off a fine low save near the foot of his right-hand post to deny Asante just minutes after his goal – a strike the AFC stopper could do nothing about.

His reflex stop prevented Moors drawing level with a quick double blast, and Cox said: “Joel has pulled off a world-class save. People may say it was straight at him, but his reactions were excellent and we’ve got to give him credit for that.

“At 2-2, we’d have started to chase the game again, and we’ve seen in the past at any level of football how games can turn.”