Pete Wild hails Barrow players as ‘outstanding’ after win over Gillingham

Barrow boss Pete Wild hailed his players as “outstanding” after they fired themselves back into the League Two play-off places with a fine 2-0 win over Gillingham.

Goals from experienced centre-back James Chester and Emile Acquah – his first in the league since October – ended a three-game losing streak.

It was the first game the club have played in 17 days after fixtures against Bradford and Crawley were called off due to waterlogged pitches.

“I think you’ve seen three or four lads who have played the best they ever had in a Barrow shirt,” said Wild.

“They were outstanding.

“It was really nice last Saturday when I went and had a chat with the fans and the fans who have been with us through thick and thin knew we were having a blip and we would come through it and we’ve delivered for them.

“I’m really pleased that we’ve done that because some of the things they were saying was humbling to say the least.

“I keep saying this, we must remember what this squad is doing for the football club and the distance it’s travelled.

“We’ve put a pin in the ground. Where we were 12 months ago in March we were out of the play-off picture and nowhere near it. Twelve months on we’re in the play-off picture.

“I think the staff and the squad deserve so much credit for what they’re doing for this football club.”

Stephen Clemence’s side slipped out of the play-off spots after defeat.

And frustrations boiled over as Conor Masterson and Remeao Hutton were booked for squaring up to one another at the end.

On the incident, Clemence said: “It’s an emotional game, football. You have to keep your emotions in check.

“I don’t like to see that, but I’ve nipped it in the bud. They’ve shaken hands and they’re fine.

“They both just want to win and sometimes in the heat of the moment your emotions can get the better of you, but they’re fine now.”

On the game, the Gills boss added: “I felt we were off it and we didn’t hit the levels we have set recently.

“It’s difficult when you play two away games on the spin, especially with the amount of miles we have put in in the past few days.

“I don’t want to use that as an excuse, but we were a little bit flat.

“I will go to bed wondering whether that’s my fault because you don’t want to change a team that’s done well.

“We dust ourselves down and get ready to start a new run on Saturday.

“We didn’t create enough. I have to say Barrow are very well organised. It was difficult and we didn’t have that spark that we needed.

“It is what it is, we’ve been beat. It’s one game.

“The division is the division and a lot of teams can beat each other. Is it a surprise? I came here thinking we’d win the game.

“We’ve got 10 games left and we’ll be trying to win them all.”