BARROW AFC 2 (Livesey 58, Fry OG 64) YORK CITY 0
York City are the latest victims to fall beneath a juggernaught gaining speed and momentum, with Paul Cox at the driver’s seat with an increasingly wide smile on his face.
The manager may talk game after game about areas where he can still see potential improvement and how this is a squad which is still not the finished article.
But all those comments do at present is add to the optimism among the supporters, who can only imagine how good things will be when the team finally do reach the levels the boss expects from them.
This was not a complete performance, and no-one would argue otherwise after a dull first half, with chances being ground out and no real spark. Oh, but what a result.
York had not won on the road in 27 matches. They had not taken all three points at Holker Street since the 1970s, back in the Football League days. Surely, they couldn’t end that run this time, with Barrow in such prodigious form? No, they couldn’t. And they never looked like they could.
That first 45 minutes was mainly a pattern of Barrow attacks and York counters.
Byron Harrison came close on several occasions to adding to his tally of six goals from his previous six games – heading a Dom Smith thrown-in on target, performing an acrobatic overhead effort and stabbing at a Jordan Williams pass, but each time putting his effort straight at York keeper Kyle Letheren.
In between those efforts, Williams curled a free-kick from 25 yards around the wall but into the Minstermen stopper’s arms and Liam Hughes shot wide with a deflected shot.
York’s best opportunity turned out to be the closest either side came to scoring in the opening period.
Jack Higgins played Shaun Rooney through on the right as they made a quick break from their own half, and the full-back broke into the area, where his shot from the right beat Joel Dixon but found Danny Livesey on the line to hoof clear at the last moment.
Harrison was flagged offside from a Hughes pass as he looked to be free, and at the other end he flicked on a City cross in his own area and was relieved as it went past the far post, with no-one else making contact.
Clovis Kamdjo connected with Richie Bennett’s face as he went high with his boot from behind the AFC man and left him floored. But Bennett was back up and on the field quickly enough as the half moved towards its conclusion.
Aidan Connolly had the last chance before that break as he shot from distance at Dixon, but after the interval the Bluebirds were always in control.
Bookings for Nick Anderton and Hughes caused consternation after City had avoided any bookings for similar incidents in the opening 45 minutes, but Barrow did not let it bother him.
Kamdjo headed at Dixon in a rare York threat, before Williams went close with a rifled effort from 15 yards which was blocked by Higgins throwing his body in the way.
Livesey showed his defensive prowess as he took the ball from the feet of Matty Dixon when a City break looked to be on, while Hughes had a strong shot parried up by Letheren, with Josh Robinson getting in the way to stop Bennett reaching the rebound.
Instead, it went for a corner and Williams delivered it on a plate for Livesey at the near post, where the AFC captain powered it home to the delight of the majority of the 1,628 in attendance.
Now the onslaught really started.
Bennett and Harrison broke in unison and the former found the latter with a ball out to the right. Harrison went inside the area and had Ryan Yates waiting for a pull-back, only for the striker to spot the chance of a shot and force Letheren to block with his legs.
Moussa Diarra – who along with Livesey was outstanding at the back all day – then laid the ball off to Hughes near the 18-yard line and he curled a shot just past the post.
Williams was the creator of the second as he left his marker for dead on the left of the area and put in a dangerous cross past Letheren, with Harrison waiting to pounce at the back post.
He did not get the chance, as Matt Fry slid in to intercept and ended up putting the ball in the back of his own net. It was effectively game over.
Connolly did shoot just wide of the post from the edge of the area for York, but it was still mainly AFC on top.
Hughes was wide after a half-clearance fund him 20 yards out and then put a header off target after substitute Ross Hannah had flicked on a Williams cross.
Hannah then showed fine poise to go close to a third, taking a Williams ball over the top of the defence under control in the area but then flicking his header over Letheren and just clear of the bar.
Fraser Murdoch had a speculative overhead effort for York which went well over and Kamdjo hit the side-netting in injury-time, but by then the game was done and Barrow were climbing ever further up the National League table.
Barrow AFC: Joel Dixon, Dom Smith, Nick Anderton, Danny Livesey, Moussa Diarra, Paul Turnbull, Liam Hughes (Lindon Meikle 87), Ryan Yates, Richie Bennett (Ross Hannah 71), Byron Harrison, Jordan Williams.
Substitutes: Andy Haworth, Harry Panayiotou, Euan Murray.
Yellow Cards: Anderton 47, Hughes 54.
York City: Kyle Letheren, Shaun Rooney (Josh Robinson 53), Jack Higgins, Matt Fry, Alex Whittle, Clovis Kamdjo, Simon Heslop, Matty Dixon, Aiden Connolly, Richard Brodie (Fraser Murdoch 65), Jake Wright (Kaine Felix 67).
Substitutes: Luke Simpson, Scott Fenwick.
Yellow Cards: Wright 66, Connolly 81.
Referee: Joseph Johnson.
Attendance: 1,628.
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