Rival boss stands up for his best mate Mat

By Paul Hargreaves

BARROW 2

Pressley 23, Acquah 90+3

BARROW: Stanway 7, Foley 7, Canavan 8, Cameron 7, Jackson 8, Fletcher 7 (Williams 68, 6), Campbell 7, Gotts 7 (Acquah 85), Newby 7, Mahoney 6 (Whitfield 78, 6), Pressley 9. Subs not used: Farman, Vassell, Kouyate.

WALSALL 0

WALSALL: Simkin 7, McEntee 7, Daniels 6, Allen 6, Barrett 6 (Okagbue 77, 6), Comley 6, Jellis 6 (Johnson 76, 6), Lakin 6 (Hall 65, 6), Gordon 6, Harrison 6 (Amantchi 55, 6), Matt 6 (Adomah 65, 6). Subs not used: Hornby, Stirk.

Att: 3,071 Rating: ★★★★★ Ref: Stephen Martin 7/10

BARROW boss Andy Whing sprang to Mat Sadler’s defence despite an end of game ‘rebuke’ from his best mate after a deserved win over faltering promotion contenders Walsall.

Aaron Pressley and Emile Acquah netted the goals as the Cumbrians’ recent revival stretched to one defeat in nine games.

Walsall, with only two wins from a possible 17, didn’t manage a shot on target, with a poor Ellis Harrison header their best effort before the break.

The rival bosses are great pals and former school pals and Whing joked: “He just told me I am a rubbish best friend.

“I will take it – and I am not sure about their crowd booing halfway through the first half.

“They are in the top three and need to get behind the team. It is ridiculous the stick he gets sometimes. I hope they go up, but this was all about us winning. I thought we looked comfortable the whole game.”

Pressley’s third goal in two games came after 23 minutes, tapping in a rebound after Walsall keeper Tommy Simkin saved his initial shot.

Simkin then kept the Saddlers in the contest with a string of fine saves, notably from Pressley and Isaac Fletcher.

But in the third minute of stoppage time, substitute Acquah side-footed Elliot Newby’s pass for the Cumbrians’ clincher.

Walsall, now without a win in ten games and with just two victories in 17, enjoyed more possession in the second half.

But home keeper Wyll Stanway remained untested, much to the frustration of more than 600 travelling fans.

Despite this latest setback, Walsall remain in the automatic promotion places, four points off top spot and one ahead of fourth-placed

Doncaster. Sadler admitted: “The opening 30 minutes were disappointing. We were waiting for something to happen and not being on the front foot.

“It was below our standards. You give them the first goal and Barrow are very good at sitting back and defending. So, it was always going to be important.

“Ellis’s chance was probably our only real clear-cut chance.

“I am not going to hide from the fact it wasn’t the performance we wanted.

“We have to show resolve, resilience and heart that we have shown countless times.

“We have had a couple of poor performances on the trot and we want to turn that around.”