Barrow AFC manager Ian Evatt was still proud of his side’s performance after their 3-2 defeat against Leyton Orient at Holker Street, where a stirring fightback wasn’t quite enough.

When Jordan Maguire-Drew put the O’s 3-0 up after 69 minutes and with the Bluebirds struggling for goals since the turn of the year, you’d be forgiven for thinking the match was done and dusted.

However, within six minutes, goals from Josh Kay and Rhys Turner had put the hosts within sight of an astonishing turnaround against the promotion-chasing visitors, who were pinned back in their half in the closing stages.

It is worth pointing out, though, that AFC had more than their fair share of chances earlier in the match and could have easily given Orient’s push for a return to the Football League a setback had they been more clinical when in on goal.

Evatt said: “We were more than in the game [for] the whole game. We had the better chances, especially in the first half.

“They’ve scored a very lucky first one, with it being a cross that’s gone straight in the top corner.

“Again, we’ve probably not been clinical in front of goal, but we’ve outplayed a team that are more or less top of this league and we have to be very proud of that.

“I think when you see a team like Leyton Orient come here, little old Barrow, and they’re putting 11 men behind the ball and they’re celebrating like they did at the final whistle, it shows that we kind of had them rattled.

“We were very good in how we played through the lines and into the final third and again it was just that lack of a bit of a clinical edge.

“We’re very unfortunate to have not got something out of the game, but I thought we definitely deserved to win it.”

There were some unseemly scenes after the final whistle, with Barrow’s players and staff taking exception to what they felt were excessive Orient celebrations.

Evatt himself had to be ushered away from the fracas, but he insisted that he and opposite number Justin Edinburgh had quickly put it behind them.

Evatt said: “It’s an emotional game sometimes, we both want to win.

“Justin is obviously fighting for a title and promotion and we fight to win every game and I thought my boys deserved that tonight.

“We both just spoke there and we got carried away – it’s just handbags, really, from two guys that want to win football matches. That’s all it was.”