Harrogate Town 4 Barrow 2: Second-half goal blitz fires Town to victory

Simon Weaver's side trailed at the interval, but a dominant display after the break saw them register a 4-2 success that lifts them up to fourth in the National League standings.

Town made an electric start to Tuesday night's contest and could have been in front inside the first minute.

Josh Falkingham slipped a pass in behind the Bluebirds' back four for raiding left-back Liam Kitching to run on to, but his low shot was blocked by the legs of gloveman Andrew Firth.

The hosts' next chance also fell to Leeds United loanee Kitching, however his tame header from George Thomson's right-wing cross was straight at Firth.

John Rooney looked the visitors' biggest threat, and having seen a couple of early sighters miss the target, he broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute.

The goal had a huge element of fortune about it, the ex-New York Red Bulls man shooting from just outside the Harrogate box and seeing his strike take a huge deflection then loop past a wrong-footed James Belshaw.

Mark Beck could have drawn Town level before half-time, however he inexplicably headed the ball away from goal rather than towards it when rising to meet Joe Leesley's inviting cross just a couple of yards out.

That miss was not to prove costly as Weaver's side struck three times in the space of five minutes at the start of the second period.

They restored parity eight minutes after the resumption, Leesley whipping in another ball from the left that narrowly evaded Jack Muldoon but was diverted into his own net by Kyle Jameson.

Moments later, Town were in front following an attack down the right that ended with Muldoon twisting and turning inside the box before rifling an effort across Firth and into the top corner.

Barrow looked shell-shocked, and when skipper Falkingham seized upon a loose clearance out of defence and picked out the bottom corner from the edge of the area in the 58th minute, the hosts were in full control.

The game was then ended as a contest with 69 minutes on the clock, Beck extending a long leg inside the six-yard box to stab home Leesley's teasing left-wing free-kick.

And although the visitors rallied somewhat in the closing stages and pulled one back courtesy of Tyler Smith's glancing header from a Rooney free-kick, Town had already done more than enough.