Barrow’s six-year stay in League Two was ended by a 2-1 defeat at home to Newport County on the final day of the season.
But in truth this had been coming for weeks with the Bluebirds going through three managers and putting player Sam Foley in charge to lead them out of trouble at the end.
Back in the National League after this kind of exit it will be a tough job to bounce back, or even make a decent fist of it like Carlisle have, unless things improve drastically on and off the field.
It was a day of drama, particularly for Newport and their travelling support of nearly 1,000, as with 15 minutes left they were heading out of the Football League alongside Barrow.
They were losing 1-0 and results elsewhere meant Christian Fuchs’ side were in the drop zone alongside their opponents.
But goals from substitute Tom Davies (76) and forward Bobby Kamwa (83) changed things round and it will be Harrogate who accompany Barrow back into the National League.
Barrow had gone into the game needing to beat Newport handsomely and hope Crawley and Harrogate lost to create a sufficient swing in goal difference.
It couldn’t have started better for them, too, as they took the lead on nine minutes when Carlie McCann volleyed home expertly after Rekeem Harper’s cross had not been cleared properly.
In fact Barrow were the better side for the first-half and created enough chances to have given hope of turning round the goal difference obstacle.
The turning point came early in the second half when Josh Gordon had a penalty saved by Newport keeper Jordan Wright early in the second period and that seemed to galvanise the Welshmen for a big effort.
They were nearly on terms when Kamwa struck the bar with a thumping effort but it was a defensive mix-up which got them level.
A short back pass had debut-making goalkeeper Killian Barrett in trouble and his clearance was blocked by James Crole, who then provided Davies with the chance to pit his side level.
The winner was a cracker as Kamwa cut in from the left and drilled a perfectly-placed shot into the far corner to seal Newport’s survival.
