PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY

BARROW AFC 2 (Hannah 11pen, Williams 19) ACCRINGTON STANLEY 0

ROSS Hannah and Jordan Williams scored the goals as Barrow AFC claimed another pre-season win over Accrington Stanley.

The Bluebirds did not hit the heights they reached in beating their other League Two opponents Carlisle at the weekend, but did all they needed over 90 hard-working minutes.

Accrington had played a behind-closed doors match against Blackburn earlier in the day and were fielding very much a second-string side, made up of those men who did not feature against Rovers or who only played a short spell.

That meant AFC were facing opponents without the class Carlisle brought to Holker Street and that showed at times as the game failed to find a great rhythm, though the hosts were the better team.

Stanley had an early chance to take the lead as Brayden Shaw hot the side netting from space on the right of the area.

The hosts enjoyed pressure without creating clear-cut chances, with Hannah, Byron Harrison and Williams occasionally not on the same wavelength.

But Barrow went ahead with their second penalty in as many games as Williams was sent sprawling – albeit slightly dramatically – by Ross Sykes and Hannah put his spot-kick in the same place as against Carlisle three days earlier to make it 1-0.

Luke Wall fired straight at Joel Dixon as Accrington looked for a quick response, but Danny Livesey and Moussa Diarra were again dominant in the air at the back.

A Livesey clearance set AFC on their way to a second goal as Liam Hughes played in Hannah down the right of the area and he reached the byline before cutting the ball back, behind Harrison but to the feet of Williams, who rifled home from 12 yards into the roof of the goal.

Hannah almost had a third for Barrow as he collected a Diarra flick-on at the far post and controlled, but saw his shot across goal saved by Eliott Parish.

Stanley were straight down the other end and Rommy Boco rattled the bar from just inside the area as play flowed from end to end.

Dixon denied Boco a goal as he reached at full stretch and turned away a shot heading form the bottom right corner of the goal, regaining his footing and collecting the ball before the visitors could pounce.

Livesey headed a Paul Turnbull corner straight down the throat of Parish, Bastien Hery found space at the back and fired across goal and Diarra almost capitalised on a poor clearance as he snapped a shot wide with power that had the crowd gasping.

It stayed 2-0 into the break, with Barrow solid if not as spectacular as against Carlisle.

Had this been a league game, Dixon might not have survived long into the second half as within a minute he was out of his area and bringing down Max Hazeldine. Referee Dave McNamara showed yellow, recognising this was a pre-season game and there was no malice, rather a little rashness.

The second half had little of the entertainment on offer before the break, with the only notable moment of the opening 20 minutes coming as Livesey went down on the edge of the area and needed treatment before running from the field – seemingly unscathed – to be replaced by Andy Parry.

Euan Murray, Elliot Newby and sub keeper Andy Coughlin all emerged from the bench as the half went on and Cox took his chance to field all his available players, with triallist Aaron O’Connor also on alongside Richie Bennett up front.

Stanley were close to gaining a penalty as Shaw was brought down mere centimetres from the area, but Wall’s free-kick found the wall doing its job as the ball was headed over the bar.

A free-kick two yards further out as Hughes brought Hery to ground saw the latter put a fine effort over the wall and beat Coughlin only to rattle the bar with everyone stood watching.

That was the last of the goalmouth chances as AFC made it three clean sheets in as many home games in pre-season, with the real action only 11 days away.

Winger Lindon Meikle did warm-up ahead of the game, but was not named among the 18-man squad, with David Mellor also missing out but present at the ground.

Stanley did not field former Barrow midfielder Paddy Lacey, who was injured in a match at Stalybridge on Saturday.

In other news, Barrow have a new name on their books after they confirmed that the player formerly known as Nick Wilmer-Anderton is now just Nick Anderton.

His former club Preston North End placed an erroneous hyphen between his middle name and his surname, something corrected with his registration for the Bluebirds.

Barrow AFC: Joel Dixon (Andy Coughlin 73), Shaun Beeley, Nick Anderton, Alex-Ray Harvey (Elliot Newby 71), Danny Livesey (Andy Parry 66), Moussa Diarra (Euan Murray 71), Liam Hughes, Paul Turnbull, Byron Harrison (Richie Bennett 63), Ross Hannah (Aaron O’Connor 63), Jordan Williams (Andy Haworth 71).

Yellow Cards: Dixon (46), Hughes (88).

Accrington Stanley: Elliott Parish, A Triallist, Frazer Shaw, Rommy Boco, Liam Goulding, Ross Sykes, Brayden Shaw, Bastien Hery, Max Hazeldine, Nathan Webb, Luke Wall.

Substitutes Not Used: Matty Pearson, Sean McConville, Omar Beckles.

Referee: Dave McNamara.

Attendance: 577.