Eastleigh 0 Barrow AFC 1

We’ve reached the point now where it’s no longer a shock to see Barrow AFC take on one of the National League’s leading lights on their own turf and deservedly come away with the three points.

Despite coming into this game at Eastleigh with eight players injured – that became nine after Jacob Blyth suffered an early calf strain – the Bluebirds were mostly in full control of this contest.

Their first-half dominance was rewarded by Jack Hindle scoring the only goal of the game after 28 minutes, with their lead at the Silverlake Stadium rarely being threatened.

It’s now three wins in a row for AFC and this was a second scalp taken in the space of four days, after their terrific 3-1 win at Wrexham last Tuesday night.

If anything, this was an even more impressive result than the one at Racecourse Ground, not just because of the lengthy list of absentees, but for the fact that Eastleigh’s recent form eclipsed that of the Dragons.

The Spitfires had won seven of their last eight games and had moved into the play-off places earlier in the week and up to sixth, but they hardly had a kick all afternoon.

In fact, the first thing the hosts did that could be considered noteworthy took 43 minutes to arrive when Chris Zebroski seemed to take his frustration out on the ball with a wild effort.

They’d barely had a touch of that ball between them at that point, with Barrow doing something they haven’t always done this season: going ahead while well on top.

It came from a great spot by Josh Kay, as he noticed Hindle running in behind the Eastleigh defence, to which he was a nuisance throughout, and played a lovely pass over the top.

His composure from that point was excellent, as he got the ball out of his feet, took it around goalkeeper Luke Southwood and rolled into the empty net.

The Bluebirds had had their opportunities to go 1-0 up before then, with John Rooney lifting a shot over after being teed up by Rhys Norrington-Davies, much to his annoyance.

In contrast, Eastleigh’s chances were very few and far between – the only time Joel Dixon had a ‘save’ to make was from a weak header from Paul McCallum that he could throw his cap on.

While the Spitfires’ 22-goal front man was negated, Hindle became the fourth AFC striker to score in the last four games (although he should really have made it a double late on).

Hopefully, he’ll avoid the fate of Rhys Turner, Dior Angus and Blyth, who all picked up injuries not long after finding the net.

However, the big silver lining to the Bluebirds’ recent injury jinx was one of the feelgood stories of the season. Blyth having to come off after just 11 minutes meant a debut up front for Nathan Reid, who had only signed first-team forms the day before.

He’s been a key part of Barrow’s under-21 team this season, but the 24-year-old’s previous experience at senior level went as far as Holker Old Boys in the North West Counties League.

That’s five levels below the National League, but the huge step up was handled brilliantly by Reid, who gave manager Ian Evatt and the Barrow fans yet another reason to be cheerful, after part three of an excellent week.