Barrow fell to their first home league defeat of the season as Oldham Athletic came from behind to run out 4-3 winners at The Progression Solicitors Stadium.
The Bluebirds were flying high when Scott Quigley fired in his first league goal of the new campaign but Ben Garrity fired the visitors level and Danny Rowe nodded them in front.
David Dunn’s men thought they had secured a share of the spoils when Matt Platt scored from a corner on 79 minutes. but Oldham won a penalty just a minute later which Rowe converted to restore Athletic's lead.
The visitors then ran home a fourth in stoppage time through Conor McAleny before Dior Angus scored to make it 4-3 with the final touch of the game.
It was a scrappy start with neither side really taking the game by the scruff of its neck in the early stages, but it was Barrow who go on top as time wore on.
Quigley earned the first opportunity of the night when he showed great strength to barge Latics skipper Carl Piergianni off the ball and race through on goal but his pass across the box was cleared by a recovering defender.
Luke James saw a shot blocked after he found space on the edge of the area and Connor Brown’s testing cross from the left also caused problems as The Bluebirds began to press.
The breakthrough arrived on 16 minutes when Quigley brilliantly claimed a hopeful ball forward on his chest before driving towards goal and then placing a lovely low shot beyond the despairing dive of keeper Ian Lawlor and in to the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
The Bluebirds front man could even have doubled his tally less than a minute later when he was given enough room thirty yards out so let fly with a low drive which Lawlor did well to claim as it skipped up off the pitch in front of him.
Joel Dixon produced an astonishing save to deny Oldham a leveller on 32 minutes when he somehow got down to get a fingertrip on Bobby Grant’s powerful low drive, which struck both posts before staying out.
However, Oldham were well on top during the closing stages of the first half and got back on level terms six minutes before the break when Grant’s cross from the left was only half-cleared and Bemn Garrity arrived to smash a shot beyond Dixon to make it 1-1.
There was worse to come on the stroke of half-time when Grant’s right-wing corner was met by Danny Rowe and his glancing header dropped across goal and in to the far corner of the net to give The Latics a lead at the interval.
Barrow came out with a bit more fire in their bellies at the start of the second half and could have drawn level when Matt Platt met a corner with a header which was flicked on goal by James but held by Lawlor.
Things turned a little bad-tempered around the hour-mark as a flurry of yellow cards for strong challenges culminated in Brad Barry being forced off through injury.
The Bluebirds then began to stitch together some of their best football of the night, moving the ball across the pitch and probing for an opening in the visitors’ defence.
Josh Kay, on in place of the Barry, was fed the ball by fellow substitute Chris Taylor on the left of the area and then fizzed a delicious cross along the six-yard line but nobody in blue could deliver a decisive touch.
Quigley then did really well down the left to dig out a cross in to the front post for Dior Angus but the substitute’s excellent glancing header was pawed away by Lawlor.
The equaliser arrived 11 minutes from time when a deep corner from the left was missed by everyone apart from Matt Platt and the big defender did brilliantly to divert it beyond Lawlor to level the game up at 2-2.
No sooner had the celebrations died down than Barrow suffered another setback as Yoan Zouma was adjudged to have fouled Bahamboula in the area and Rowe slotted home his second of the night from the penalty spot to restore the visitors’ lead.
The Latics then wrapped up the points on the break in injury-time when Rowe got away down the right and rolled the ball across for Conor McAleny who produced a neat finish to make it 4-2.
Angus bundled in from close-range right at the death to reduce the arrears but it wasn't enough to prevent defeat as Oldham became the first side to take three points at Barrow this term.
Full Time: Barrow 2 Oldham Athletic 4
Barrow: Dixon, Barry (Kay 61), Zouma, Platt, Brough, Brown, M Jones, J Taylor (C Taylor 46), Biggins (Angus 72), James, Quigley.
Subs: Lillis, Wilson, Reid.
Booked: Biggins, Barry, Kay.
Oldham Athletic: Lawlor, Borthwick-Jackson, Jombati, Piergianni, Garrity, Rowe, Keillor-Dunn (McAleny 75), Grant (Blackwood 90), Fage, Diarra, Bahamboula (Barnett 84).
Subs not used: Bilboe, Whelan, McCalmont, Hamer.
Booked: Diarra, Borthwick-Jackson.
Referee: Declan Bourne
Attendance: Behind Closed Doors