NATIONAL LEAGUE

BARROW 2

FOREST GREEN 3

FOREST GREEN are right on the coat-tails of leaders Lincoln City after a dramatic victory at Barrow.

And with FA Cup heroes Lincoln making it into the last 16 after shocking  Championship outfit Brighton, Mark Cooper’s Rovers cut the gap at the top to a point.

It was high-octane stuff when promotion rivals Barrow looked to have snatched a point at fortress Holker Street - sub Ross Hannah following up his Sam Russell parried penalty with five minutes to go.

Rovers were spitting feathers at the contentious spot-kick, but  justice was served when sub Many Monthe got on the end of Liam Noble’s corner to win it in stoppage-time.

Earlier, the outstanding Noble, rated the best player in the National League by his boss, opened the scoring in the first-half with a sumptuous free-kick, but Barrow, who had beaten leaders Lincoln 3-0 on Tuesday night, levelled things up through Alex-Ray Harvey, but Christian Doidge’s 15th goal of the season restored Rovers’ lead before the final helter-skelter finish.

Following a raft of player exits, Cooper dived into the Football League transfer pot to draft in loan trio Mark Ellis, Jake Gosling and Kaiyne Woolery. Sam Wedgbury, so impressive in the County Cup in mid-week against Bristol City, gained a place on the bench. Marcus Kelly (hamstring) and Shamir Mullings (sickness) missed out.

Meanwhile, Cooper had hoped to conclude a deal for a defender before the match, but is now expected to rubber-stamp the move next week.

Rovers got off to a stunning sixth-minute start in Cumbria.Rob Sinclair drew a foul on the edge of the box and Noble arrowed over a sumptuous free-kick beyond flat-footed former Cheltenham Town goalkeeper Jon Flatt.

The game was stop-start with the whistle halting any meaningful flow with a staggering 21 first-half free-kicks.

Play was held up for a number of minutes when a crude tackle from Harvey floored Rovers’ Ethan Pinnock -sparking a player melee. Harvey saw yellow and when tempers calmed – Barrow’s Danny Livesey and Rovers’ Ellis were carded.

Barrow were struggling to find any rhythm, missing top scorer Byron Harrison, but Akil Wright came close to finding 30th-minute parity as his volley flew just wide from a Livesey cross.

And the Bluebirds swooped three minutes later. Rovers’ Gosling fouled Shaun Beeley on the edge of the box and the subsequent Harvey free-kick found the head of Richie Bennett.

A fractious half saw Barrow’s Bennett booked for a late tackle on Ellis, who was catching the eye for his on-pitch leadership qualities.

Rovers huffed and puffed on an unforgiving surface - Woolery dinking over on the cusp of the break with Flatt doing enough to blunt his surge forward .

Rovers started the second-half on the front foot. Dan Wishart drove forward to watch his fizzer deflected and then Noble’s howitzer clipped Livesey as the net bulged in anticipation.

And the net rightly bulged on 64 minutes. Noble’s arrowed free-kick picked out the diving Doidge who made no mistake.

Charlie Cooper’s energy from midfield complimented the guile of Rob Sinclair and the creativity of Noble as Rovers hunted a game over third.

Woolery's driving runs were pegging Barrow back and Flatt did well to save from the Wigan loanee after the irrpressible Noble created the opportunity.

Woolery then slipped beyond Nick Anderton and his cross narrowly missed the lurking Doidge and Wishart.

Barrow, beaten only once at home in 11 months, looked to find a way back into the game, but Rovers had Russell to thank as he gloved Andy Haworth's free-kick wide.

And with five minutes on the clock Barrow were awarded a contentious penalty - Moussa Diarra falling to the floor. Noble’s gamesmanship seemed to work as Hannah prepared to take the spot-kick and his spat with Dan Rowe earned the duo bookings. The delay knocked Hannah off his stride as his kick hit the diving Russell, but the rebound gave him the chance to rifle home.

Rovers were shocked and Howarth spurned a great chance to win it on 89 minutes, but Russell dropped on the ball.

More drama followed and Cooper was spitting feather in stoppage-time when Anderton guided the ball with his hand in the box.

Rovers never give up and Noble’s 93rd minute corner was headed in by sub Monthe to win the game in the most dramatic of fashions.

Barrow AFC (4-5-1): Jon Flatt, Shaun Beeley, Nick Anderton, Danny Livesey, Moussa Diarra, Akil Wright (Andy Haworth 80), Alex-Ray Harvey, Paul Turnbull (Ross Hannah 72), Dan Rowe, Richie Bennett, Liam Hughes (Lindon Meikle 72).

Substitutes Not Used: Harry Panayiotou, Myles Anderson.

Yellow Cards: Harvey (22), Livesey (23), Bennett (43), Hannah (75), Rowe (88).

Forest Green Rovers (4-3-3): Sam Russell, Dale Bennett, Dan Wishart (Keanu Marsh-Brown 90), Mark Ellis, Ethan Pinnock, Rob Sinclair, Liam Noble, Charlie Cooper (Sam Wedgbury 90), Kaiyne Woolery, Jake Gosling (Manny Monthe 66), Christian Doidge.

Substitutes Not Used: Darren Carter, Fabien Robert.

Yellow Cards: Ellis (23), Cooper (76), Wishart (85), Noble (88).

Referee: Martin Coy (Durham).

Attendance: 1,422.

Star Man: Liam Noble. Stunning free-kick and two assists for captain fantastic.