Wow. On the one hand, 400 words don’t feel nearly enough to discuss the importance of Saturday’s trip to Notts County. But on the other, when you actually sit down to write about it, one word actually seems to cover it quite adequately – wow.

Over 470 Barrow fans made the trip by coach, train and car on Saturday, coming from both north and south and converging on one of the biggest grounds many of us had ever been to supporting Barrow, taking on one of the biggest clubs we’d ever seen us line up against in the league.

A real test of our play off credentials was expected. Some even predicted a bit of a reality check with the injuries we were carrying.

“I’d snap your hand off for a draw!” was the prevailing sentiment on Saturday morning. But Ian Evatt has repeatedly appealed for the fans to start changing that ‘glass half empty’ mentality.

He’s urged us to embrace the fact that we’re all supporters of the best football team in the National League. Be under no illusion, Saturday will be looked back on as the day we were all converted to that view.

Barrow decimated Notts County from the first whistle to the last, giving them the kind of footballing lesson on their own ground that seemed to come as a real shock to the home supporters and had the away section in deafening raptures.

There were wobbles; two goal line scrambles in particular come to mind, but where the ball would have found a way past Joel Dixon back in August, now Matt Platt simply hooks it away with composure and maturity far beyond his years.

Dior Angus would have missed his chance in August too. Not now. Back of the net.

Everywhere you look, every player you analyse, confidence and assuredness ooze across the field and reveal a team not just staking a claim for a place in the top seven, but a team who now should have no fear or shame in openly declaring their intentions to chase the title itself.

Ten wins in our past 11 league games, a run only punctuated by a shocking refereeing decision in Torquay, have broken the resolve of every team at the top.

Only Yeovil still clung on as we all started the journey home, and in the evening game even they surrendered their mathematical ability to overtake us when the games levelled out. As the song goes, ‘we are top of the league’. Now it’s time for our rivals to do the chasing.

*Barrow AFC’s away form has been nothing short of incredible so far this season and each and every member of the support who has made one of the trips with us can be rightly proud of their role in getting points on the board.

Make no mistake, our voice matters. The players say it, the manager has said it. The atmosphere that we create really could propel us towards the Football League. But we need to step it up.

Three of our next four league games will be played at home. Now is the time to show our support, get those attendances over 2,000 and let the team know that this town and community is right behind them.

Under-16s will be admitted for free once again this Saturday when we entertain Barnet, so bring the family along and share in the pride and passion of watching the greatest team Barrow AFC have had in generations.

From the players and coaching staff to the office-based employees and the directors, everyone is pulling in one direction and the results are there for all to see.

The perfect storm may well be upon us. All that remains is for us fans to all to get fully on board for the most crucial Christmas period in years.

*The Bluebirds Trust and the wider support have a huge role to play in the future of this football club. When we made the historic decision to acquire 10 per cent of the club, we earned the right to a seat at the table and real influence in our future.

But with that comes a responsibility and a shared duty, along with the other owners, to do everything we can to sustain our recent success.

With this in mind, the time may well be approaching when the fanbase needs to ask what we can all do to build on the success of the 1901 Club and provide real support to the directors in order that we can move toward that shared vision of being a sustainable Football League club. To face that huge question together, we need to understand the detail.

On Friday evening, at the Co-op Bowls and Social Club on Dane Avenue (7pm for a 7:30 start), the directors and Ian Evatt will be giving a public briefing to fans on all things Barrow AFC.

I urge as many of us as possible to attend, to hear where the club is against our original plan, where it has come from since the new owners came in, and – crucially – where we all want it to go next.

Only then can we decide the size of our role moving forward in securing that future.