Barrow retained their unbeaten – indeed winning record – when they toppled Blackpool in the opening round of the Carabao Cup on penalties.
The Bluebirds won the shoot-out 4-3 after the game itself had finished goal-less.
Goalkeeper Paul Farman was the hero, not so much for his two saves in the penalty decider but from his agile work during the game.
Manager Pete Wild said afterwards: “Paul is a top fella. He’s in our senior leadership team and I really respect him as a goalkeeper.
“He makes saves. He kept 14 clean sheets last season for a team third bottom of the league. The bloke keeps us in games and we’ve seen that in abundance against a lively Blackpool side.”
Farman had already saved the first Blackpool penalty and then Shayne Lavery’s effort in the shoot-out. That should have won it but a re-take was ordered and this time he beat the Barrow keeper.
Although Harrison Neal missed for Barrow on-loan Manchester City midfielder Lewis Fiorini shot over the bar to leave Barrow the 4-3 winners.
The Cup win follows victories in League Two over Stockport County and Bradford City but they did owe a debt of gratitude to Farman.
In the game he made a string of saves against a Blackpool side which had shown seven changes from Saturday. They had the majority of possession, created the chances but couldn’t finish-off any of them.
Blackpool manager Michael Appleton said: “It’s disappointing to go out on penalties but I’m not disappointed with how the players applied themselves.
“Some of the play in the second half was good but we lacked a bit of confidence in front of goal.”
