VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE

BARROW AFC 2 (Diarra 13, Harrison 16) SOLIHULL MOORS 1 (Asante 52)

IN the end there was relief. It had been too tense, too scrappy for joy, too much of a battle for any sense of real satisfaction.

Barrow wiped a 22-year-old record from their books as they made it 15 games unbeaten in the National League, beating the season-starting run of the 1984/85 side.

Yet what could have been real celebrations for that run, after the team went 2-0 within 16 minutes and controlled the first 50 minutes were dampened by the concluding spell of the game.

Moussa Diarra had powered Barrow into a 1-0 lead and Byron Harrison had doubled it within a matter of minutes in a first half when the Bluebirds were on song and could have had more.

Yet, after an initial flurry which could have yielded one, two, even three more goals after the break, they conceded to a stunner from Akwasi Asante, lost their rhythm and confidence, struggled for a spell and were hugely relieved to take three points which should have come so easily to them.

For all that frustration that what looked nailed-on as an easy win was turned into a ground-out triumph, there should be pleasure that it still was a triumph. The time was, not so long ago, Solihull would have netted a second, even a third, and there would have been nothing to show.

This is a different Barrow team, one that, even when they do not play well, can hang on for the victory. Hence that 15-match unbeaten run in the league and a firmly-stablished place among the play-off contenders.

It was a team full of confidence and drive which took the game to their visitors from the outset.

A Jordan Williams free-kick from 10 yards inside the Moors half on the right was floated deep into the area, where the towering mass of Barrow players lurked.

Danny Livesey got there and flicked the ball on, heading for the top corner before Danny Lewis stretched out his fingertips and touched it onto the bar. It bounced out and fell to Richie Bennett, but he snatched at his effort and fired over from six yards.

No need to worry, the goal came soon enough.

Another Williams set-piece, this time from the corner flag, drifted over those at the near post and was met by Diarra, so high above the rest as to be unreachable and with a header with such power it could not be stopped.

This was the Diarra we were told so much about when he signed from Hampton and Richmond, the one with so many goals under his belt.

He has one for Barrow now, proving his recall, after missing Tuesday’s FA Cup match against Taunton due to a family bereavement, was more than justified. More must surely come if he times his runs and connects like that.

Moors pushed for a quick response, Jamey Osborne had a shot that deflected wide of the post and forced two corners.

The second led to a quick counter-attack down the right from the home side, with Williams set free. He made it level with the area and cut the ball back to Ryan Yates, whose floated ball went beyond the defence and found Harrison, who gladly headed down and past Lewis.

Diarra glanced another header wide from a Williams free-kick on the left and Liam Hughes attempted an acrobatic overhead that went wide as Barrow had the better chances during a spell where the hosts were on top for the remainder of the half.

They came out firing in the second half, Harrison using his power to take the ball in the Moors area and pull the ball back to Williams. He received it perfectly on the edge of the area, but opened his body too much and sliced wide of the goal.

Williams soon hard a corner floated into the heart of the box, where Hughes connected and headed toward the top corner, only for Lewis to pull off another top-class save.

Another corner came in from the winger and this time Harrison met it, heading against the underside of the bar and seeing the ball bounce down and out rather than in.

There could have been three goals in as many minutes, instead – from nowhere – Solihull attacked down the left and pulled it back to 2-1.

It was a goal of individual brilliance from Asante, who took the ball on the left corner of the area and, with his right foot, looped a shot over the defence and into the far bottom corner beyond the dive of Dixon.

Just like that, the pattern of the game changed.

Now Solihull were in the ascendancy, Asante with a chest down and shot on the edge of the area that provoked a high-calibre stop from Dixon low down near the post when it looked likely the teams would be level.

Williams shot weakly across goal and out for a throw-in at the other end of the field, but Jamey Osborne had shouts for a penalty under a challenge from Alex-Ray Harvey turned down and Danny Livesey sliced wide of his own goal as the visitors pressed.

Osborne produced a winding run from the left and fired in a shot which hit the bar, Williams was on the end of a rare AFC break and shot at Lewis, Osborne had another shot deflected wide and Jordan Fagbola headed off target. There were chances aplenty, mostly to Solihull.

Bennett did have a header wide while off-balance as he met a Williams cross at the far post, but Paul Cox knew which way the tide was flowing and brought him off for Akil Wright to help shore things up.

Wright looked pacy and impressive while he was on the field, a spell which saw Diarra head over a Williams free-kick from three yards out and immediately put his face in his hands as he knew a golden chance to settle nerves had gone.

Harry White flicked a header wide for Moors and Omari Sterling-James shot at Dixon as they looked for a late equaliser which never came.

The final whistle went, and there was relief.

Barrow AFC: Joel Dixon, Shaun Beeley, Nick Anderton, Danny Livesey, Moussa Diarra, Liam Hughes, Alex-Ray Harvey (Andy Haworth 86), Ryan Yates, Richie Bennett (Akil Wright 80), Byron Harrison, Jordan Williams (Lindon Meikle 90).

Substitutes Not Used: Ross Hannah, Myles Anderson.

Solihull Moors: Danny Lewis, Shepherd Murombedzi, Connor Franklin, Jordan Gough, Akwasi Asante, Jack Byrne, Darryl Knights (Omari Sterling-James 67), Eddie Jones (Harry White 80), Jean Koue-Niante, Jordan Fagbola, Jamey Osborne.

Substitutes Not Used: Darren Acton, Lewis Hayden, Joel Dielna.

Referee: Tony Backhouse (Carlisle).

Attendance: 1,184.