With each passing week, Barrow’s season seems to break new barriers and pass new milestones.

Saturday saw the visit of Aldershot, a team with the unenviable task of trying to inflict only our second defeat in 15 league games. They failed.

The Bluebirds were not at their fluid best for large periods of the game, but even then could have scored three or four.

When we shift through the gears, few defences seem to be able to live with our passing and only a failure on our own part to inflict that knock-out blow is making our home league games tense and nervy affairs.

That’s now six wins in seven home league matches, but not since October have we beaten a side at Holker Street by more than a single goal. It’s that ruthlessness and bullying dominance that Ian Evatt is keen to see from his team as the next phase of our development.

In the meantime, fans will be very happy to settle for winning every week by one goal. Nineteen points from a possible 21 have seen us start to apply a real strangle hold at the top of the table.

Lately, it seems as though with every result we get, at least one team in the chasing pack slips up to allow us to make ground.

This week it was Solihull Moors, who were defeated at a resurgent Wrexham. We now enjoy a seven-point lead over the team many consider to be our closest rivals – though they currently only occupy fourth spot behind Yeovil and Bromley sides who are stuttering themselves (three wins from eight league games between them).

There was no sense this weekend of any team rising to the challenge that Barrow are laying down to the National League.

A long season stretches before us with many twists and turns to come, but right now momentum is with us and this is a key period for the club – we need to extract every drop of advantage we can while our form is irresistible and our rivals uncertain in their pursuit.

Our next league game, away to Solihull Moors, is almost two weeks away. Now we can all catch our breath and refocus our attention on the FA Trophy this coming Saturday.

The break will be welcome. It’s not every week that Barrow AFC become the bookies’ favourites to make a return to the Football League.

* There’s an unmistakable buzz about Holker Street and a sense that our town and community are really buying into what’s happening right now.

Match day hospitality is already sold out (or close to it) for five fixtures between now and the end of the season, and I would urge anybody who wishes to book for a future game to do so soon to avoid disappointment.

The Bluebirds Trust have seen a similar upsurge in away travel bookings. Again, if you want to come with us on any of our advertised trips then please book as soon as possible because we have limited availability governed by the number of buses that we intend to run.

This momentum is key to everything that Ian Evatt wants to achieve. The community and the fan base are at the heart of it, and without them it isn’t possible to drive and sustain the kind of on-field performances that the team are generating week after week.

We all have a part to play in this success – and the success that we want to see this season – and now is the time to maintain that momentum.

* Anybody who knows me professionally or has spent much time with me personally lately will know that I’ve spent much of the last six weeks unwell with various bugs, viruses and currently loss of hearing. A bottle of Night Nurse has been a regular companion.

These same illnesses, coupled with holidays and the huge spike in interest from our fanbase, have strained the staff pool at the club and I’d like to take the opportunity to thank everybody involved in our back office team for the incredible work they do to make sure that Barrow AFC runs the way that it does.

Ryan, Renata and Anya, overseen by Rob Graham, have seen corporate bookings rise sharply and received some incredible feedback from guests.

They are also growing our ‘midweek trade’ with daytime bookings to use our facilities, all of which need to be staffed and stocked. This work is key to our future and an underrated aspect of the club’s operations.

With a busy Christmas period in prospect and, with life being what it is, no doubt some extra disruption or illness to come as we progress through the winter, the dedication of our team will be needed more than ever as we continue to drive toward promotion.

Well done all. Now keep it up!