Any Newport fan who has made the long journey up the UK to Barrow will tell you what a task it can be. With 261 miles separating us, it is one of the longest away days in League Two, and it’s fair to say that Holker Street hadn’t been the kindest of venues to us over the years.
In fact, prior to February 2023, the last time we had won away at Barrow, man hadn’t landed on the moon and Roy Orbison was top of the charts.
Our last victory away at Barrow was a 4-1 win on October 10th, 1964. As such, you could forgive fans if they didn’t fancy making the long journey up there in the middle of February.
This didn’t deter Newport, though, and 95 hardened souls took to the road in the hope of a first win at Barrow in over 55 years.
Fortune favours the brave, and those 95 Exiles that made the trip were rewarded with one of the best away wins of the 22/23 season.
The opening stages of the game were cagey. We had come into the game on the back of a 2-1 win over Swindon but had drawn four of our previous five before that. The game looked as though it was heading the same way.
Feeley had received a red card for the hosts in the 81st minute, a decision that led to an extended period of stoppage time being added on. As we’ve learned from Newport under Graham Coughlan, it is not over until the full-time whistle blows, and we managed to grab the most dramatic of winners right at the death.
In the 95th minute, captain Mickey Demetriou rose above a crowded box and headed home to secure the points in front of a jubilant travelling contingent. The game was far from pretty, but Newport fans heading back down the motorway for the next four hours won’t have minded.
You can re-live that cold february afternoon below: