Barrow ended a run of five games without a win when they beat Grimsby Town 1-0 at a rain-soaked Holker Street.
They were denied for long spells by the Mariners keeper Max Crocombe who pulled off a string of fine saves, particularly to deny Billy Waters and David Moyo.
It was Waters who came to Barrow’s aid, though, when he grabbed his first goal since the opening day of the season which provided Barrow with their first win against the Mariners since 1968.
Crocombe capped his night with a penalty save to deny Josh Kay who was missing his second spot kick in as many games. It was a fine stop with his foot after Kay had taken the penalty when he had been fouled in the box.
The winner didn’t come until 15 minutes from the end to the relief of manager Pete Wild, his team and the Barrow faithful. Waters got on the end of Patrick Brough’s curling cross to steer into the bottom corner.
Although Crocombe stole the show with his performance for Grimsby, opposite number Paul Farman was not a spectator. He produced a fine save to deny the opening goal for Grimsby’s Ryan Taylor.
The three points lifted Barrow back up to eighth just a point outside the play-off berths.
Wild praised his players for the performance and said it was “the best we’ve played for 90 minutes all season”.
After going in goalless at the break, Wild said he asked the players to just keep believing at half time, and it paid off when Waters broke the deadlock in the 75th minute.
The Barrow boss praised Waters, saying how pleased he was for him and how that goal should help the forward relax and grow in confidence going forward.
