Pete Wild’s side are beaten in South Yorkshire, with Doncaster's James Maxwell scoring the only goal of the game.
An end-to-end opening 16 minutes in the fixture saw Barrow’s best opportunity, when Ben Whitfield threaded Ged Garner through inside the box, however, the Doncaster defence held strong and managed to stop Garner in his tracks.
Against the run of play, Doncaster opened the scoring a couple of minutes later. James Maxwell was found at the back post from a lofted cross by James Brown. Following brilliant build-up play, Maxwell anticipated the ball well to place his deflected shot past Paul Farman into The Bluebirds' net.
The hosts came forward again in the 29th minute; the ball played out to Luke Molyneux following a corner, who whipped his shot from long range, grazing just over Farman’s crossbar
It was a first half of limited opportunities for the away side, however, The Bluebirds did win a free-kick in a dangerous area in the 43rd minute, which was whipped in by Ben Whitfield, Sam McClelland meeting the ball and his header falling just wide of Jonathan Mitchell’s post.
Elliot Newby looked to make an instant impact after his introduction at half time, as his dangerous cross was swiftly headed away by the Doncaster Rovers defence in the 47th minute.
12 minutes later, Billy Waters struck an effort from just outside the box, which was well saved by Jonothan Mitchell down to his left.
The Bluebirds, backed by a travelling contingient of 164, continued to build on their second-half pressure pushing for the equaliser. Ben Whitfield played a fantastic ball into the box and Ged Garner was denied reaching the ball by a brilliant piece of defending by Joseph Olowu in the 65th minute.
7 minutes later, Garner unleashed a well-hit shot, which was saved by the Doncaster goalkeeper.
There was a short stoppage in play, when the perhaps ironically named Eco-Power Stadium fell dark, due to an issue with the floodlights.
Play got back underway after a six minute stoppage, when a duo of penalty appeals for Barrow were waved away.
First was a handball appeal, following Jake Young’s header. The second saw Young break through on goal, and after a tussle for the ball with the defender, he was brought down but referee Thomas Kirk disagreed with the claims from the Barrow forward.
Despite 11 minutes of added time, The Bluebirds couldn’t quite find the decisive goal to level the fixture, despite their second-half efforts.
Full Time: Doncaster Rovers 1-0 Barrow
Attendance: 5,496 (164 away)