Barrow were beaten by a single goal at The Peninsula Stadium on Tuesday night as Ian Henderson’s first half goal was enough to hand Salford City all three points.
The City front man pounced on an error from young centre-back Bobby Thomas to fire the decisive goal as The Bluebirds return to action ended in defeat to The Ammies.
Michael Jolley opted to make three changes for the game, with Brad Barry returning from a hamstring injury to feature for the first time since December while Luke James and Lewis Hardcastle were both restored to the starting line-up.
After a quiet opening to the encounter, it was Salford who got on the front foot first when Ash Hunter arrived on to a ball on the edge of the box but he fired wide on the stretch.
At the other end, Neal Eardley came agonisingly close to putting Barrow in front in spectacular fashion. A corner was cleared 30 yards from goal where the Bluebirds defender struck a wonderful dipping volley which had City keeper Vaclav Hladky backstepping as it grazed the roof of the net on its way over.
Ian Henderson bought himself a yard to shoot with a clever turn on the right side of the area but his subsequent shot flashed across the goal and wide of the far post.
However, the veteran front man couldn’t miss on 29 minutes when Bobby Thomas miscued a pass on the edge of his area and Henderson chased in to smash home his fourth goal in three games to give The Ammies a lead.
Barrow responded positively and a patient passage of football saw the ball worked from right to left for Patrick Brough who whipped a cross through the box to the arriving Eardley who attempted a shot on the half volley, but he couldn’t keep it down.
The Bluebirds suffered a blow on the hour when Lewis Hardcastle hobbled off with an injury, though that did allow Mace Groodridge to come in for his debut in the centre of midfield.
And the on-loan Burnley star produced a wonderfully deft touch to feed a ball over the Salford defence for Scott Quigley but the striker could only flash a shot across goal.
Thomas, who propelled a series of dangerous long throws in to the home side’s box, found himself out on the right to whip in a brilliant cross to James at the front post but the front man’s glancing header was excellently turned round the post by Hladky.
Barrow threw caution to the wind as time wore on and Michael Jolley threw Mikael Ndjoli on for his debut to try and add extra firepower but the hosts continued to frustrate with some solid defending as they saw the game out.
Full Time: Salford City 1 Barrow 0
Salford City: Hladky, Touray, Lowe, Eastham, Hunter, Bernard, Turnbull, Towell (Wilson 70), Gotts (Threlkeld 94), Coutts, Henderson (Thomas-Asante 83).
Subs not used: Evans, James, Andrade, Burgess.
Barrow: Dixon, Barry (Ndjoli 83), Eardley, Thomas, Brough, Davies, Donohue (Kay 73), Hardcastle (Goodridge 57), Banks, Quigley, James.
Subs: Lillis, J Jones, Ntlhe.
Booked: Thomas.
Referee: Trevor Kettle
Attendance: Behind Closed Doors