Barrow keep battling at Crawley but inch nearer drop zone

Kwesi Appiah’s stunning 57t- minute goal enabled the Red Devils to repeat their 1-0 win at Holker Street earlier in the season and produced new Barrow manager Phil Brown’s third successive defeat since taking over the reins from Mark Cooper.

With fellow-strugglers Stevenage winning at Colchester, Barrow are out of the bottom two only by goal difference

Yet it could have been a plucky point for Brown’s team had substitute James Jones’s last-minute shot gone in instead of striking Crawley skipper George Francomb as he stood on the goalline.

Crawley were content after Appiah’s breakthrough – his 11th goal of the season – to soak up Barrow’s late pressure but in truth there were never too many scares for them.

They should have led through Appiah a minute before he actually scored. Francomb’s pin-point cross landed straight on his head but he nodded wide from three yards out.

Less than 60 second later a five-man passing move that lit up a dreadful game ended with Will Ferry slipping a fine ball forward for Appiah to drill past keeper Paul Farman.

Appiah should have doubled his tally when he was sent through, looking suspiciously offside, only to shoot straight at Farman.

Barrow, despite just one win in the previous 11 games, at least showed a sense of purpose, dominating a dreadful first half and twice going close to opening the scoring.

With Crawley’s one authentic tactic being to fire long balls forward for the pace of strikers Ashley Nadesan and Tom Nichols, the visitors were able to build from the back and get service out to wide-men Josh Kay and Joe Grayson.

They forced a string of corners early on and when skipper Ollie Banks clipped a curling cross into the box on nine minutes Kay should have done better with the home defence stretched but failed to test keeper Morris.

Crawley broke from that escape and Niall Canavan was needed to make a vital clearance as Kwesi Appiuah closed in on James Tilley’s final ball.

Morris gave Crawley a scare when inexplicably juggling the ball away for a corner with no Barrow attacker near him.

Banks featured strongly in most of Barrow’s smarter moves. When another corner was only half-cleared he struck a firm volley from the edge of the box but saw it blocked away.

Crawley showed rare ambition when Isaac Hutchinson, despite an attempt to pull him back by an arm, set up Appiah only for the striker to scuff his shot across the face of the goal. Then Francomb’s poor clearance at the other end was snapped up by Grayson who volleyed wide.

Back came Crawley and Nichols flicked a header into goalkeeper Farman’s arms from Tilley’s delivery in the32nd minute, but it was largely uninspiring stuff until Matt Platt came up to get his head to a Grayson corner only to nod straight at Morris.

Crawley were improving towards the break and Farman did well to leave his line and dive at Nichols’ feet at the expense of a corner before Hutchinson fired over from 25 yards.

Boss Brown must have been hoping at the point that his Barrow boys were not running out of steam but they kept going to the end in the second half and it needed a special goal to beat them.