BUILDBASE FA TROPHY FIRST ROUND

HARROGATE TOWN 3 (Ainge 29, Leesley 42, Pittman 61) BARROW AFC 3 (Williams 2, Bennett 8, 88)

BARROW AFC had Richie Bennett to thank after his late goal saved them from an FA Trophy exit at Harrogate Town.

The Bluebirds saw an early two-goal lead wiped out before half-time and went 3-2 down before a red card saw Town down to 10 men and Bennett scored the equaliser..

It was the perfect start for the visitors as Byron Harrison and Bennett combined well on the right of the area and the former delivered a ball to the far post, where Jordan Williams directed the ball back across goal, past Chris Elliott and into the far bottom corner.

The advantage was double on eight minutes as a Ryan Yates shot from distance took a sever deflection and arrived at the feet of Bennett yards behind the defence in acres of space. No offside flag came and Bennett was able to tap home for the easiest of finishes, to the consternation of the vocal home support.

Town came back into the game before the half-hour as a Joe Leesley corner was met neat the far post by the run of Simon Ainge, who headed powerfully into the net to cut the gap to 2-1.

The early advantage was wiped out before the break as clever play from Chib Chilaka on halfway set up a break and a cross from the right from Joe Colbeck found the feet of Leesley. He turned and shot low through the crowd into the far bottom corner, with the lower-league side starting to dominate.

There were chances for a goal for AFC before the break, but Bennett’s close-range effort was blocked on the line by Lewis Turner and Colbeck cleared Liam Hughes’ header from near the post.

After efforts for both sides after the break, Town led when Moussa Diarra was adjudged to have pushed JP Pittman to the ground on the byline inside the area. Pittman got himself up and saw his penalty superbly saved by Tim Erlandsson, but the Harrogate man was quickest to react and bundled home their third goal.

The task became harder for Town when Turner was sent off for bringing down Williams when he was in on goal 20 minutes from time, with Elliott then superbly saving an Andy Haworth free-kick destined for the top corner.

The red card created space in the home defence and it was eventually exploited as substitute Ross Hannah controlled and put the ball across the goal-line to Bennett, who eventually bundled it in to draw AFC level with three minutes to go and save their bacon. The replay will take place at Holker Street on Tuesday night (7.45pm kick-off).

The same Barrow side which defeated League One Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup second round six days ago took to the field at Wetherby Road against National League North Town.

That meant a start for two-goal Cup hero Byron Harrison, with loan players Tim Erlandsson and Ryan Yates also starting for their first appearances in the campaign.

Paul Turnbull, who is on the way back after suffering a calf injury was not risked on the 3G pitch at Harrogate, with artificial surfaces having aggravated the problem in the past.

Town reached the first round with a 3-0 win over National League North rivals Salford City on Tuesday night, with Joe Leesley, Joe Colbeck and Andi Thanoj scoring their goals.

Harrogate Town: Chris Elliott, Lewis Turner, Louie Swain, Andi Thanoj, Simon Ainge, Paul Thirlwell (Luke Shiels h/t), Joe Colbeck, Burrell, Jon Paul Pittman (Marcus Day 86), Chib Chilaka (Wayne Brooksby 79), Joe Leesley.

Substitutes Not Used: Jack Emmett, Nicky Clee.

Yellow Cards: Ainge (7), Brooksby (90).

Red Card: Turner (70).

Barrow AFC: Tim Erlandsson, Shaun Beeley, Nick Anderton, Danny Livesey, Moussa Diarra, Liam Hughes (Andy Haworth 71), Alex-Ray Harvey, Ryan Yates, Jordan Williams, Richie Bennett, Byron Harrison (Ross Hannah 75).

Substitutes Not Used: Lindon Meikle, Akil Wright, Myles Anderson.

Referee: Scott Oldham.

Attendance: 441.