VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE

BARROW AFC 3 (Williams 41, Harrison 44, 66pen) GUISELEY 0

JORDAN Williams stole the show despite Byron Harrison scoring his 14th and 15th goals of the season as the Barrow AFC bandwagon rolled on over Guiseley.

The 23-year-old’s fifth goal of the season was a thing of pure wonder amid a first half of misplaced passes, groans from the Popular Side and eyes half-closed for an early night.

There were 41 minutes on the clock when a series of half-cleared crosses and passes in and around the Guiseley area saw the ball fall to him outside the area, 25 yards from goal to the left of centre.

Williams let the ball drop and bounce, then struck it oh-so-sweetly with his left boot – not the right one which had produced a fine goal, though not in this league, against Taunton seven days earlier.

Off the ball flew, up into the air, then dipping viciously, over the stretching dive of Daniel Atkinson, who had no chance of stopping it.

It was stunning, far better the than the game which preceded the effort deserved. No wonder he is a player drawing so many admiring glances.

Before that, the only threat to either goal came from a cat which appeared over the perimeter wall by the Main Stand and made a pacey run across the AFC area, darting past Joel Dixon with ease and showing a clean pair of heels as he headed off in the direction of Asda’s pet food aisle.

Nothing that happened in the 40 minutes which preceded provided anywhere near the same level of excitement.

Nothing that could be regarded as a real chance was created at either end, with Barrow relying too much on long balls which neither Harrison nor Richie Bennett could regularly control, while Guiseley slowly came into the game without coming close to scoring.

Williams shot weakly at Atkinson, Michael Rankine tried to lob Dixon from 40 yards, but forgot the aerial element, Ashley Palmer made a great block to stop the winger finding Bennett in space after a good lay-off from Harrison, and a Williams effort from a narrow angle was easy meat for the Lions keeper.

A Liam Hughes free-kick hit the foot of the wall and went for a corner, and Bennett took a guided pass over the top and crossed to the far post, where Hughes stretched to get a touch, but had no power or control and poked the ball at Atkinson.

Jake Cassidy had a rare Guiseley chance, heading weakly at Dixon before Williams’ fireworks set the game alight.

His goal added impetus to the home side, and just as against Solihull on Saturday, there was a second goal soon after.

This time Williams was the provider, waiting patiently for the perfect moment to deliver a cross from the left and onto the head of Harrison near the centre of the goal. Atkinson could not get to him fast enough and his marker was nowhere in sight as he headed down and into the net.

There were early second-half chances, with Williams slicing off-target with a good chance from the edge of the area and Bennett guiding a Nick Anderton cross wide of the near post.

Guiseley right-back Connor Brown tried his luck from 20 yards, with a skiddy effort that took a deflection, with Dixon spilling and gathering near his line.

It had been a quiet start to the half, but a third goal came from nothing as Ryan Yates – earlier booked for diving – went to ground under a challenge from Marcus Williams in the area and earned a penalty.

Harrison put the ball on the spot, stepped up and went right when Atkinson went left. Easy as you like for his 15th of the season.

A deflected Danny East effort looped over the Barrow bar as Guiseley finally produced some play at the other end, though nothing they did suggested a consolation was coming.

Substitute Andy Haworth hit the Crossbar windows soon after coming on as Paul Cox made three changes, and another replacement Hannah was offside as he took a Hughes pass in space in the area.

Joel Logan put in a good cross to the far post for the Lions, which hit the leg of Shaun Beeley and Danny Livesey had to clear, setting up a counter-attack which ended with Hannah hitting a low effort that Atkinson got down to stop well.

Dixon produced an even better stop to deny Logan, after the Lions winger produced a fine run in from the right and found the space to shoot, but the home stopper reached down to turn it round the post superbly.

Moments later, Dixon was down, colliding heavily going up for the corner and going down hard. The physio was on, he did not move, and on came a stretcher to carry him off. Much as he did one for Cambridge United, Liam Hughes wore the jersey for the remaining few minutes, though everyone was concerned solely with Dixon’s well-being.

The 10 men pushed for another goal, but Hannah blazed wide when played in down the left and Hughes had nothing to do in an unfamiliar role.

The Bluebirds are now 16 games unbeaten in the National League, 20 in all competitions, and ready to take on third-placed Dagenham and Redbridge on Saturday.

Barrow AFC: Joel Dixon, Shaun Beeley, Nick Anderton, Danny Livesey, Moussa Diarra, Liam Hughes, Alex-Ray Harvey, Ryan Yates (Akil Wright 78), Byron Harrison (Ross Hannah 70), Richie Bennett, Jordan Williams (Andy Haworth 75).

Substitutes Not Used: Lindon Meikle, Myles Anderson.

Yellow Card: Yates (47).

Guiseley: Daniel Atkinson, Connor Brown, Daniel Lowe, Ashley Palmer, Robert Atkinson, Marcus Williams (Alex Purver 78), Daniel East, Simon Walton, Jake Cassidy (Jordan Preston 71), Will Hatfield (Joel Logan 61), Michael Rankine.

Substitutes Not Used: Steve Dickinson, Adam Boyes.

Referee: Joe Johnson (Liverpool).

Attendance: 1,070.