Barrow boss Wild about Kian Spence after stunning winner on debut

Posted Sunday, August 06, 2023 by PA

Barrow boss Pete Wild was full of praise for debutant Kian Spence after his stunning strike secured all three points from a 2-1 victory over Tranmere at Prenton Park.

On a rain-soaked afternoon on Merseyside both teams played their part in a fascinating encounter which saw plenty of goalmouth action at both ends.

Tranmere looked more threatening in the opening minutes as Josh Hawkes forced Barrow goalkeeper Paul Farman into action with a fierce shot from the edge of the box after just eight minutes.

But it was the visitors who took the lead after 19 minutes when Spence’s effort from the edge of the area ricocheted off the heel of Niall Canavan and into the net, leaving Rovers keeper Luke McGee stranded.

The home side should have been level in the 24th minute when the ever-dangerous Hawkes pounced on a poor backpass only to be denied by Farman, who came out to narrow the angle.

With half an hour remaining, though, Rovers were handed a lifeline when Harvey Saunders was upended in the box and Josh Hawkes blasted the penalty past Farman in the Barrow goal.

However, with the home side looking the more likely to go on and take all three points, Spence, making his first league appearance, blasted Barrow back into the lead in the 70th minute with a stunning effort from the edge of the area to stun the home fans and ensure maximum points.

Wild said: “We’re really pleased with the result today. This is a tough place to go.

“We knew they were well organised, we knew their two wide boys would be a real threat and they could cause us problems, it was a real back-and-forward game and took a while to settle down.

“When it did settle down I thought we moved the ball really well and all things considered it’s a great start.

“We’ve put a real emphasis on second balls on the edge of the opposition box and we feel that’s the best way to approach set-pieces this season, so it’s great to see it pay off.

“We’ve covered a lot of miles today and that’s what we’re going to have to do in every game as that’s the way we play, we’re athletic in midfield.

“Even in the last 15 minutes when we were looking to protect what we’ve got, I thought the lads executed the defensive part of the game really well.

“For Kian to score a goal like that on his Football League debut, it really doesn’t get much better than that.”

Tranmere manager Ian Dawes said: “I think anyone watching the game would agree that we at least deserved something from the game today.

“If you look at the game as a whole I think we were the better side through the 90 minutes. They had a good spell for 15 minutes just before they scored with set-plays.

“I’ve got to take the emotion out of it sometimes, the three points were obviously important but it’s all about us making sure that we plan and prepare for the next games.

“We had 17 shots and I thought we completely dominated the game and when we got it back to 1-1 I thought it looked like only one team was going to score.

“To be fair to their lad he scored an absolute worldy from the edge of the box but he’ll probably get one of those every blue moon.

“While I’m disappointed with the result today, I’m confident that we’re going to grow and we’ll be in a good place come the end of the season.”