Barrow 2-3 Bolton Wanderers - Marc Iles' big match verdict

Trailing 1-0 at the break with a strong side, the fallout from a defeat against Ian Evatt’s former employers would surely have made for an uncomfortable 10 days to the Huddersfield home game.

John McAtee found a vital equaliser to cancel out Sam Foley’s header and Aaron Collins produced his best half of the campaign, scoring an excellent second before Kyle Dempsey grabbed a third. Andy Dallas scored almost immediately to keep the tension high – but a win of any kind will feel like a good one for Evatt right now, and while his side never looked at their very best, they did enough.

Wanderers made just three changes from Saturday’s defeat at home to Exeter City with Jay Matete, Jordi Osei-Tutu and Aaron Collins coming in for Dion Charles, Josh Sheehan and Chris Forino – who was drafted into the Northern Ireland, Wales and St Lucia squads, respectively.

The strength of the starting line-up may have surprised some, and particularly those who feel this competition should be relegated to the very bottom rung of the priority ladder this season. It did, however, give Evatt a chance to bed down the slightly altered shape which has brought decidedly mixed results in League One so far. And given the reaction to the previous defeat, this really was an opportunity to shift the narrative just a little during the international break.

The first 45 minutes summed up Bolton’s season so far.

While they enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, Barrow racked up the better chances and got themselves ahead. Added to that, Jordi Osei-Tutu limped off with what looked like a knee injury midway through the half having been his team’s brightest player to that point.

Barrow got off to a flyer. The League Two side had knocked Derby County out of the Carabao Cup and kept three league clean sheets out of four, and despite making several changes to their weekend win at Harrogate, proved no pushovers.

Katia Kouyate had a near-post effort deflected wide with barely two minutes on the clock, Andy Dallas seeing another effort go close moments later as the Whites struggled to get out of their own penalty box.

The home side hunted down Bolton’s attempts to play out from the back and possession in the early stages was all-too-often sloppy, inviting Barrow to take the advantage.

Wanderers got their act together in fits and starts. John McAtee snapped one low shot at goal, pushed aside by Wyll Stanway, and Dempsey drilled a fine ball across goal to which neither McAtee nor Collins could get a decisive touch.

Dempsey and Osei-Tutu did make inroads down the right, and looked the best shot of finding a goal, but the final bass – as so often has been the case so far this season – was never quite sharp enough.

Nathan Baxter made a good one-handed save to push away a shot from Dallas, who should probably have done better after getting to the rebound ahead of Johnston, only to prod his shot just over the bar.

Thomason put his side in trouble a couple of minutes later with a sloppy pass on the edge of the box, ex-Bury man Dominic Telford curling another effort at goal which was palmed away by Baxter.

Collins went very close to opening the scoring after taking Thomason’s smart pass on the turn and curling a shot just wide of the upright. McAtee also had a goal chalked out after latching on to a similar pass, only to find himself just offside.

But what turned the half from a frustrating exercise into a potentially damaging one happened in the final 10 minutes. First a relatively innocuous collision between Osei-Tutu and Junior Tiensia on halfway ended with the Bolton man being helped off the pitch in pain, with Luke Matheson replacing him from the bench.

And to rub salt into the wounds, the Bluebirds nudged themselves ahead when Sam Foley got forward from midfield and headed home Ben Jackson’s cross ahead of Szabi Schon.

There was a brief flicker of hope for an equaliser right on half time as Stanway got caught miles out of his own goal with Dempsey scampering through, but the Barrow keeper did well to scramble the ball behind for a corner in the end.

The 700-or-so travelling fans were hardly voicing their displeasure in the same way as 21,000 had done at the Toughsheet on Saturday but they definitely demanded better than they were seeing. And, in fairness, things did pick up after the break.

Foley might have made things very awkward had he repeated his trick of the first half and got a header on target from Jackson’s free kick.

But Bolton were that bit quicker and sharper, and Collins – who had been inconsistent in possession in the first half – suddenly started to look like his old self.

Home keeper Stanway made a couple of good stops to deny Schon and Collins but as the rain started to drive down in Cumbria, Bolton were finally able to make their pressure count.

McAtee scored his first Wanderers goal after Collins’ shot was initially saved by Stanway but the former Barnsley man was quick to the loose ball, sliding into the net along with it to the delight of the away supporters.

A lead followed quickly, Collins turning on the corner of the area to drive a brilliant effort into the bottom corner. The mood, like the scoreline, had also flipped completely and suddenly the drive back down to the M6 felt that bit closer.

Dempsey then grabbed a third, stabbing a shot at goal which dribbled under Stanway’s body and apologetically over the line. That should have been game safe but Dallas – who had been a handful all night – took advantage of Santos’s positioning to grab a second, with Bolton left protesting offside.

Wanderers saw the game out from there, Collins and McAtee having half-chances to extend the lead in stoppage time. But considering where they were at the break, there were a few looks of relief as Thomas Parson’s brought the game to a close.