VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE

ALDERSHOT TOWN 2 (McClure 1, Evans 26) BARROW AFC 2 (Tuton 73, Hannah 90+5)

ROSS Hannah’s stunning 95th-minute free-kick saw nine-man Barrow AFC snatch a point from a game in which they appeared dead and buried, writes STEVE GIBBS .

Barnsley loanee Shaun Tuton had given Barrow AFC hope with a superb solo goal of his own on 73 minutes, but when Shaun Beeley and then Nick Anderton saw red for impetuous fouls, few would have given them a prayer – until the mercurial striker fired his third goal in his last three league games from more than 30 yards.

It was a moment which gave an increasingly extraordinary game an appropriately tumultuous finale and, perhaps more crucially, it denied the Shots an opportunity to steal a march on their erstwhile faltering play-off rivals.

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Yet the game had seemed to be cruising towards an inevitable if slightly anti-climactic result after Aldershot dominated the first half.

Matt McClure hooked a 10-yard shot into the net after just 49 seconds, and that largely set the tone for Barrow’s lethargic start as Jon Flatt, Moussa Diarra and Paul Turnbull all failed to deal with Idris Kanu’s low cross.

Still, though, Jake Cole had to make a fine reaction save to parry Richie Bennett’s header, from Beeley’s cross, on five minutes.

Later half-chances came for Jordan Williams and Tuton, who both pulled their angled shots wide, but – with 17-year-old Kanu tormenting Anderton down the right – it was the Shots who extended their lead on 26 minutes.

McClure had battled well to win a corner and, from Alexander’s delivery into the six-yard box, Will Evans held off Diarra to power a header into the net.

Another Williams snap-shot was deflected past the post soon after, but any signs of resistance from the visitors were at best sporadic.

Bennett flashed a shot wide seconds after the break yet, although Jack Thomas and Akil Wright – in replacing Turnbull and Liam Hughes – belatedly restored bite to the midfield, it took a brilliant run from Tuton to jolt the second half into life.

On 73 minutes, Diarra hacked the ball clear from his own six-yard line out to Tuton, midway inside his own half near the right touchline.

Picking up pace as he danced past a slew of half-hearted challenges towards the penalty area, he cut inside Callum Reynolds and fired a low 16-yard shot into the near corner past a wrong-footed Cole.

Paul Cox immediately made his final substitution, and on 82 minutes Hannah’s snap-shot was superbly blocked by Reynolds.

The ensuing 14 minutes – including six minutes of stoppage time – were something of a blur.

Alex-Ray Harvey was booked for a clattering late challenge on Jim Kellermann and, on 87 minutes, Beeley was somewhat harshly dismissed for wrestling with Callum Reynolds, who was trying to smuggle the ball under an advertising hoarding to delay a Bluebirds throw-in.

Within two minutes, Anderton received a second yellow card for clumsily pulling down Shamir Fenelon as the pair chased a ball out towards the touchline, and – despite referee Constantine Hatzidakis’s decreasing control over the game – that should have been the final action.

However, with seconds remaining, Kanu was penalised for a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge with Harvey more than 30 yards from goal, inviting Hannah to whip a shot over the wall and into the top corner of the net.

The ensuing exuberant celebrations – and bad-tempered scenes outside the home dressing room at the final whistle – illustrated how pivotal a moment it could prove to be as Barrow seek to regain a place in the top five, which in December had appeared assured.

They will travel to Macclesfield Town on Wednesday minus their two full-backs but with renewed belief that they deserve a play-off berth.

Aldershot Town: Jack Cole, Will Evans, Scott Rendell, Matt McClure (Jim Kellermann 76), Barnard Mensah (Jonny Giles 78), Cheye Alexander, Jake Gallagher, Idris Kanu, Kundai Benyu (Shamir Fenelon 81), Callum Reynolds, Callum Buckley.

Substitutes Not Used: Anthony Straker, Mark Smith.

Barrow AFC: Jon Flatt, Shaun Beeley, Nick Anderton, Danny Livesey, Moussa Diarra, Alex-Ray Harvey, Paul Turnbull (Jack Thomas 65), Liam Hughes (Akil Wright 65), Shaun Tuton, Richie Bennett, Jordan Williams (Ross Hannah 74).

Substitutes Not Used: Lindon Meikle, Dan Rowe.

Yellow Cards: Anderton (3, 89), Beeley (51, 87), Harvey (84).

Red Cards: Beeley (87), Anderton (89).

Referee: Constantine Hatzidakis.

Attendance: 1,858 (81 fromBarrow).