Interim boss Neil McDonald couldn’t follow up his commendable draw at Gillingham as Barrow went down 2-1 at home to Cheltenham Town.
McDonald is joint favourite to be handed the job but this was not the result he wanted although the performance was decent enough.
It does mean that Barrow were overhauled by Cheltenham and sit 19th in the League Two table just four points above the drop zone.
Luton loanee Ethon Archer came on as a 75th minute substitute and grabbed the winner nine minutes later.
Taking a pass from Isaac Hutchinson he went on to drill a low shot beyond Wyll Stanway to score his third goal in four games.
Until then it had looked as though the game was going to finish all square with a goal apiece but the worrying statistic is that Barrow haven’t won at home since September 20.
They had been the dominant force in the first-half, with Cheltenham keeper Joe Day doing well to keep out efforts from Ben Whitfield and Josh Gordon.
It was somewhat against the run of play when Cheltenham took the lead on 39 minutes.
A cross from Jordan Thomas found striker Hakeeb Adelakun at the far post to score his first goal since joining from Salford.
Two minutes into the second-half Whitfield levelled for the home side but they weren’t able to go on from there. Kane Hemmings had two chances he couldn’t take before Archer sent Cheltenham home with all three points.
