Holker-Roker poker choker

More than 25,000 fans trekked to the North East successor to Roker Park to watch Barrow harry and frustrate Premier League Sunderland in the third round of the FA Cup this afternoon. But the giant-killing dream was not to be, and Holker's heroes went down 3-0 to goals from the Black Cats' Steed Malbranque (in my view one of the most regularly underestimated performers in the top flight) and a deserved brace from Frazier Campbell. The non-league visitors did not sit back, however -- in the end they gambled everything, and for large chunks of the game matched Sunderland for possession and goal attempts. Finally they were choked by superior quality and fitness. But Barrow fans still have much to be proud of, even though they miss out on the fourth round draw. (The picture is from Crawley on 10 October, where Barrow won 1-0. Until their visit to the Stadium of Light today, the Bluebirds were undefeated in seven games.)

-----------

Roll out the Barrow

Good luck to Blue Square Premier heroes Barrow, who take on Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in the FA Cup today. My namesakes have had a great season so far. I caught them on a good day out at Crawley Town earlier in the season, where this picture was snapped. One of their most redoubtable cheerleaders is a guy from Aberdeen who now lives in Barrow and splits his loyalty with the Dons.

When the Bluebirds came up from the Conference North the year before last the big question was whether they could survive. Last term was tricky but ultimately successful on that front. This time they are looking stronger, though getting into the top half of the table and eventually competing for promotion back to the League will be a big challenge. Another year of stability, augmented by a good cup run, would be a solid achievement for the boys from Holker Street -- which is a dire ground to get to by public transport when you live where I do. But I hope to make it again one day.

-----------

The New Year kicks off

I'm off to St James' Park again this afternoon - the first time in a number of weeks - to see Exeter City kick off the New Year against Port Vale. Thank goodness I have my thermals ready. It's going to be bloody freezing. A good start to 2009 is needed to regain momentum after the 2-0 defeat by Brentford on 28 December, brought about by a questionable penalty decision towards the end of the match.

I'm also keeping my fingers crossed for my Conference namesakes Barrow (pictured), who take on Premier League Middlesbrough in the FA Cup. It's much more important that they avoid relegation, of course. But this should be a great day out. Good luck to Kevin's beloved Orient, too. They were dire away against Colchester and now have some serious work to do to avoid the drop from League One.
-----------

A point snatched away

I was about to write that Dumbarton had come from behind to grab a point yet again, as Paul Keegan equalised Stenhousemuir's first-half lead on 71 minutes. But then the Warriors stole it right at the death. Drat. Apparently it was a "wonder strike" from Shirra after 90 minutes, but that's little consolation. This is a game Sons will have expected at least a point from, in spite of the injuries, so the defeat is a distinct disappointment. The 55 minute substitution (Keegan for Fergus Tiernan) paid of handsomely with a goal for Dumbarton. Young Andy Geggan, however, stayed on the bench.

Meanwhile, congratulations to Exeter City who claimed their first English League Two victory at Bournemouth, courtesy of a Ryan Harley goal. He really is a fine young prospect. In the Blue Square Premier, meanwhile, Barrow (illustrated ) continued their good run with a 2-1 win over Mansfield, a fixture in which I have had a historic family interest.
-------------

A good start for Barrow

Great to see that my namesakes have made an excellent start in the Blue Square Premier (a.k.a the Conference) with a convincing 3-0 win against Oxford United, who went down to ten men at the end of the first half. The U's form was down last season, after they blew the chance of promotion the year before in the play-off semi against my home city side, Exeter City, when they had looked dead certs to go up. It's going to be a hard road to recovery in the post-Jim Smith era. For the Bluebirds, meanwhile, this game was just the shot in the arm they needed, with most people predicting that they will struggle to stay up. Barrow's debut was a match I'd have loved to have got to. But making it up to Holker Park is a massive trek by public transport for me. So I'm contemplating Cambridge or Torquay away later in the season. Or, indeed, Oxford.
[Picture (c) North West Mail]
-----------

Barrow 'til I die!

Well, it's kinda inevitable, isn't it? My surname is Barrow, after all.

But tonight I'm thinking of Barrow AFC from Cumbria, who have just won the Blue Square North promotion play-off against Stalybridge at Burton's Pirelli Stadium to claim promotion to the Premier Division - only one step away from the Football League proper, from which they dropped in 1972. Hearty congratulations to the Bluebirds! "Barrow's goals-machine midfielder Matt Henney found the net in the 58th minute after the blue-and-whites surged forward," says the ecstatic North-West Evening Mail, promising seven pages of coverage tomorrow. The final result was 1-0.

I can't claim to be a week-by-week follower of my namesakes, but when I was a youngster I used to look out for their results, in the way that kids do. The other connection was that my mother had a nursing colleague called Mansfield. Her son, Guy if I recall correctly, was a couple of years older than me and also a football fan. So the bi-annual tussles between the Bluebirds and the Stags, sadly relegated from League Two this season, were occasions of friendly family rivalry - something it will be possible to relive again this Summer, after 36 years.

In any event, I shall definitely make sure I get down to Holker Street at some stage next season. 'Mon Barrow!
-----------

Football at the grassroots

No live football for me this weekend, so I find myself watching the BBC1 TV broadcast of a gutsy Second Round FA Cup tie between part-timers Harrogate Railway Athletic of the Unibond League One North and Football League Two strugglers Mansfield Town (founded in 1897 as the Mansfield Wesleyans). All mud, mouth and mix-ball, but good fun for that, and with no little skill. Mansfield are cruising to a 3-1 win as I scribe, so they can banish memories of their humiliation against minnows Stockton in the same competition in, er, 1952. (As I write this, Harrogate claw another goal back. The curse of Barrow strikes again!)

Talking of which: when I was a kid, growing up in Chiswick and then Kew, my parents had friends with the surname 'Mansfield', which meant that Barrow versus the Stags fixtures became an occasion for friendly rivalry - well, between the two young boys, anyway. Barrow sadly dropped out of the League in 1972, at the expense of Hereford United. They currently have a supporters' wall project - and as I think of them as my third team, along with Southall, I might contribute. It would give me great pleasure if they could make it back to the Blue Square Premier and full League status eventually, and I really ought to make a trip to Holker Street, Barrow-in-Furness, at some point. Maybe a journey break on the way up to Dumbarton.

Meanwhile, Mansfield have secured a 3-2 win against a Harrogate side described as "excellent" by Mark Lawrenson (for once, I agree with him) and are now heading for a Third Round away tie against Brighton (my abode for a few years until 2003).

Talking of football at the grassroots, last weekend I took in a game at Heavitree Social United, down the road from me and in the Devon and Exeter League Premier. The whole glorious story ('On a winger and a prayer') is told in the forthcoming issue of the Heavitree & District News. I'll post it here when it's published.