BLUEBIRDS SLIPPING AS U’S SHUT UP THE SHOP

THE spirit that carried Sutton United to the fifth round of the FA Cup is helping them in their battle to get away from the lower reaches of the table.

“That’s seven points out of nine, so I have got to be happy. Barrow never troubled us. We were more solid,” said Sutton boss Paul Doswell after his side registered their first topflight clean sheet since 1990.

“Getting clean sheets has been an issue for us, so that was a good one. We dug in today and that was a good away performance against a Barrow side still aiming for the playoffs.

“There was a lot of sparring, but the knock-out should have come from a clear penalty.

“I saw it from 80 yards away yet the referee couldn’t see it from ten. And then Roarie Deacon was sent off for complaining about it.”

So much seemed promised with Nicky Bailey clearing the ball off Ross Hannah’s boot as Barrow looked for an early lead.

Then Liam Hughes had a header pushed away, and when he got to the rebound to get in another header, Dan Spencer cleared the ball off the line.

Sutton tried to respond, but a back header by Jamie Collins was snatched away by home keeper Jon Flatt before Maxime Biamou could get a touch.

At the other end, Moussa Diarra hooked a Jordan Williams corner inches over the bar and Hannah fired a 30-yard free kick inches too high as Barrow pressed for an opener. The stalemate continued in the second half and visiting keeper Will Puddy spent much of his time taking Barrow crosses out of the air. Shaun Tuton got closest with a cross that fizzed across the face of the net while, with five minutes remaining, Jack Jebb had an effort on the Barrow goal deflected wide. “Frustrating,” was the verdict of Barrow boss Paul Cox. “I think our keeper must have caught a cold because he didn’t have to do anything in the full 90 minutes – not a single save. “There was a game plan and I thought we needed to freshen things up because we needed to be a bit more dynamic. Then we lose the captain and then we lose his replacement, so it was back to the notebook. “The players have been told that some teams will come here and not have a real interest in trying to score. We have got to be braver and cuter. “We huffed and puffed and we have got to reignite ourselves. We never looked in any trouble, but we have to take chances.” For Tuesday’s game with Tranmere, Cox will have to figure out how to replace Richie Bennett and Liam Hughes, who have both picked up 10 yellow cards and the loss, with concussion, of skipper Danny Livesey and his injured deputy Matt Platt.