A Very Fine Spectacle: Barra Virile on the Wirral

Tranmere Rovers (A) - EFL League 2 - 29th December 2025

It was destination Prenton Park during what has been a pessimistic perennial period for the final dance of 2025 for Barrow Soccer as we end the year with form that can only be likened to a pathetic and half-hearted jig. However, sometimes, you simply don't know; this is a side that is definitely better away than at home, although chucking away what should have been a hard-earned point away at Accrington merely days earlier was very much fresh in the memories of the hardy away following under the lights on the Wirral Peninsula.

Hang on a minute, who is this bespectacled gentleman? Is that Neil McDonald? No, it is not, it is merely Neil McDonald, now resplendent in a pair of Foster Grant ready readers. Has his eyesight diminished since Boxing Day? Is he hoping that the away end simply thinks he is somebody else? We will never know. What we do know is that there were changes aplenty. In came Winterbottom, Harper, Jackson, and Fletcher, with Stanway and Shipley dropping to the bench and Barkhuizen, Hemmings, and Newby vanishing altogether from the squad after the Boxing Day disaster.

For the home side, former Bluebird Patrick Brough took his place in a left wing-back starting berth, and 44-year-old goalkeeper Joe Murphy continued in goal, with the choice of the theme tune from the Rockford Files as the teams entered the playing surface no doubt being at his insistence. The game started out in a rather chaotic manner which gently hinted at what was about to come. Both sides looked open, with Barrow's defensive shape resulting in gaps and Niall Canavan picking up a booking for a foul that left him walking the proverbial disciplinary tightrope for the remaining 85 minutes. What could possibly go wrong?

What could possibly go right, more like! McCann's ball forward found the returning Fletcher, who played an enticing ball to Ben Jackson, who was ideally placed and finished confidently to put Barrow into the lead, no doubt stunning and delighting the travelling support in equal measure. That was his first goal for the club since netting away at Vale Park at the back end of last season and the first goal involvement of any sort from the wing-back who notched 10 assists last season. Get in there, indeed.

The end-to-end nature of the opening exchanges continued when Nathan Smith headed over from a corner shortly thereafter. There was even a rare foray towards the opposition penalty area by Niall Canavan, just prior to Barrow winning a corner of their own. This was viciously swung into the penalty area by Jackson. It hit somebody, and with the elderly Joe Murphy in no-man's land (something he knows, no doubt, all too well), Charles Raglan was able to nod home to put Barrow into an even more unlikely two-goal lead in front of an incensed home crowd.

Ben Winterbottom then saved superbly, at full stretch, from James Jennings shortly afterwards and also had the wherewithal to save Patrick Brough's follow-up, justifying his inclusion and celebrating his heroics in front of the appreciative travelling contingent. In the 32nd minute, Scott Smith drove forward, finding Josh Gordon on the right-hand side, whose shot was saved by the geriatric Murphy, only for the ball to fall to Isaac Fletcher to head past the venerable Murphy to fire Barrow into an unassailable three-goal lead. Quite what is going on?

This summoned a response of sorts from Rovers, and they had a goal disallowed in the 36th minute due to an offside flag from our favourite bald linesman. This was followed up by Taylan Harris shooting wide before the referee blew up for half-time to a cacophony of boos from furious natives. There were reports that emotions were running so high that a delicious Chicken Balti Pie was thrown in the direction of Tranmere chairman Mark Palios (of Faria Alam and the late Sven-Göran Eriksson ménage-à-trois fame) in the Prenton Park directors' box during the half-time interval. They were not very happy with the first-half performance, to say the very least!

As the second half got underway, there should have been optimism abound within Bluebirds, both those there in person and watching on television. However, as we approach the ten-year anniversary of Barrow 3 Tranmere Rovers 4 in the division below, where you-know-who were 3-1 up on 89 minutes but contrived to lose 4-3 by full-time, we will not take anything for granted, especially given our recent form.

The hosts marked out their attacking intent right from the start, with another Taylan Harris effort being saved by Winterbottom. Moments later, a deep free-kick placed on top of Ben Winterbottom was dropped. Jordan Turnbull kept the ball alive before former Bluebird and part-time male model—Patrick Brough—pulled a goal back for the home side. He did not celebrate, and I am choosing to believe it was because it was against his former club rather than the desperate showing from his team in the first half.

Two Tranmere players clashing heads failed to knock any sense into them as Scott Smith had the opportunity to put the game beyond them. However, this was saved by Boer War veteran Joe Murphy. This was followed by a slew of substitutions, with Tranmere introducing Bristow, Dennis, and Ironside, the latter rumoured to be a favourite television programme of Joe Murphy growing up. Bespectacled Neil McDonald (also rumoured to be an Ironside fan) also introduced Innes Cameron in place of Josh Gordon around the same time.

Do you enjoy chaos? Here, have some chaos. Innes Cameron, through on goal, somehow contrived to miss when he really should be scoring, reflecting his career at the club thus far, when he has fluffed his lines whenever a rare opportunity to get going here has ever presented itself. Even more silly was what was to come. A foul committed by Raglan on Ironside was given by the referee, and Niall Canavan seemingly forgot where he was and the fact he was on a yellow card and booted the ball away. Yes, sent off again, the third time this season. Like that goal we conceded in the last minute on Boxing Day, eminently avoidable. If we were going to succeed in the league for the first time since Walsall (a) (yes, that was with 10 men as well), we were going to have to do it the hard way. Again.

Neil McDonald responded by replacing the impressive Isaac Fletcher with Lewis Shipley, before Winterbottom was clattered. After having received some initial treatment and being able to carry on temporarily, he succumbed to his injury and was replaced by Wyll Stanway. This was much to the annoyance of the home support, who were annoyed to the extent of becoming completely blinkered. The idea that Winterbottom would feign injury and we would go to the trouble of using our final substitution slot to change our goalkeeper simply to waste time is extremely implausible, to say the least.

Anyhow, we did hold firm. Andy Crosby's response to chuck on as many strikers as possible, including one who bore a striking resemblance to Toady from Neighbours, did not aid their cause whatsoever as ten-men Barrow held firm. If Winterbottom's earlier save was Lev Yashin-esque, then Stanway's wonderful save from Toadfish and subsequent punch upfield made him the next Claudio Taffarel, quickly banishing the ghosts from deepest, darkest Lancashire as part of an excellent cameo which may or may not be one of the last times we see him turn out in a luminous goalkeeper jersey for Barrow.

The full-time whistle was greeted with another cacophony of boos from incredibly cross locals as a bespectacled and previously beleaguered Neil McDonald celebrated in front of an ecstatic away end with an equally ecstatic group of players in what could very well be the performance and the result of the season so far. It remains to be seen whether this is a turning point (no, not those Bible-bashing yanks) with a baptism of fire to get 2026 underway against one of Gary Neville's many business interests at Sandcastle Holker Street. However, this showed that there is something to work with, whoever the new Head Coach is, and that a couple of additions during the transfer window would help us become a more balanced squad with more of an attacking threat that is actually capable of winning games of football at home, like they're supposed to. It's over to you, Iain Wood (again).

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