Barrow continued their great early season form with a shootout win over Scott Brown’s Fleetwood Town on Tuesday evening, with Josh Lillis providing the goalkeeping heroics to help The Bluebirds prevail on penalties.
A neat pass from Carlos Mendes Gomes allowed Brendan Wiredu to whip a nice effort into the top left and put The Cod Army ahead on the half hour mark.
Tom White was pulled down on the edge of the box by Fleetwood defender Carl Johnston in the 43rd minute; Johnston was shown a yellow card for the offence.
John Rooney stepped up and did what John Rooney does best, and neatly curled the 20 yard free kick into the top right corner to make it 1-1 and send The Bluebirds into half time on level terms.
Neither side could find a winner in the second half. Barrow perhaps came the closest when David Moyo’s flicked header had Fleetwood goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk beat, but narrowly looped over the bar in the 58th minute.
Pete Wild’s side almost found a winner in the closing stages; Moyo’s goalbound shot was blocked, and Pavel Zak’s rebound almost deflected into the bottom left corner.
Neither Fleetwood Town or Barrow could find that winning goal, and a penalty shootout was needed to settle the score.
Barrow goalkeeper Josh Lillis made two vital saves in the shootout; the second of which was the save that denied Fleetwood’s Sam Glenfield and sent 208 travelling Bluebirds fans back up the A6 with a smile.
Full Time: Fleetwood Town 1-1 Barrow
(Barrow win 4-3 on penalties)