Barrow picked up three valuable points on the road as a dominant second half performance was enough to see of Colchester United at The JobServe Community Stadium.

After a drab first half, Mark Cooper’s men upped the tempo after the break and went in front thanks to an own goal early in the second half before Josh Kay wrapped up a satisfying and important win at the death.

The U’s got on the front foot during the opening stages and could have gone in front on three minutes when the ball dropped kindly for Freddie Sears on the edge of the box, but his low drive was well saved down to his right by Paul Farman.

Junior Tchamadeu let fly on his left foot after cutting inside dangerously from the right but his effort was too high to trouble Farman.

At the other end, Patrick Brough had his head in his hands after a corner was half-cleared to him on the fringe of the area and he struck a bullet shot on the volley which was somehow deflected behind by a combination of goalkeeper and defender.

From the resultant corner, Jacob Wakeling could have marked his debut after getting away from his man at the front post only for his glancing header to flash across goal and wide.

Colchester came back again and a ball in from the left was met by Brendan Wiredu who sent a header across goal towards Miles Welch-Hayes at the far post, but he couldn’t adjust his body quickly enough to direct it into the net.

Some patient build-up from The Bluebirds sculpted a shooting opportunity for James Jones and his low strike caused a problem for home goalkeeper Jake Turner who could only parry, before Wakeling glanced another header just off-target when the ball was swung back into the box from the right.

Jones then put a header wide from an Anthony Glennon corner as Mark Cooper’s men built a period of pressure to push their hosts on to the back foot as the half time whistle approached.

Matt Platt did well when a long ball over the top forced him to run back towards his own goal pursued by Sears, but the Barrow centre-back kept his cool to clear the ball away under pressure from behind.

Barrow came out aggressively at the start of the second half and within two minutes worked an opening for Tom White whose powerful shot through a crowded area looked set to find the net before Turner was able to react at the last minute and throw a hand up to parry it away.

The Bluebirds kept coming though and Will Harris curled a shot over the bar and the busy Luke James turned well to fire a 25-yard shot on goal which was held by Turner all inside the first five minutes of the second period.

On 53 minutes, Barrow made their dominance count. Brough drove his way into a good position on the left and fizzed a dangerous cross into the box which Colchester defender Tom Dallison could only divert past his own keeper to make it 1-0.

The home side reacted well to going behind and forced a save out of Paul Farman moments later while they flashed several balls across the Barrow penalty area without reward.

Luke Chambers came close to levelling on 74 minutes when he met a ball into the box but his lofted volley struck the cross bar and Barrow were able to scramble it clear.

The Bluebirds could have made the win safe when they broke brilliantly through Josh Kay who carried the ball from inside his own half before rolling it square for fellow substitute Jamie Devitt, but his low shot was well saved by Turner.

The two subs combined again on 88 minutes, but this time Devitt’s curling low shot was easily fielded by Turner as Cooper’s men continued to threaten with time running out for the hosts.

The points were finally secured in the opening minute of stoppage time when some intricate football finished with White sliding a great ball into the feet of Kay and he slotted a clinical finish into the net to make it 2-0 and send the 112 travelling supporters behind the goal wild with delight.

Full Time: Colchester United 0 Barrow 2

Colchester United: Turner. Welch-Hayes (Hannant 58), Chambers, Wiredu (Chilvers 64), Skuse, Judge, Sears, Dallison, Andrews (Nouble 81), Tchamadeu, Coxe.
Subs not used: Gerken, Smith, Eastman, Huws.

Booked: Dallison.

Barrow: Farman, Hutton, J Jones, Platt, Brough, Glennon, White, Banks, Wakeling (Kay 63), Harris (Devitt 76), James.
Subs not used: Lillis, Brown, Ellis, Stevens.

Booked: Platt, Hutton, J Jones.

Referee: Will Finnie

Attendance: 2,297 (112 Barrow)