BARROW 3 CITY 2

THE journey back to Swindon must have flown by – the shorter one to Bradford not so much.

For one home fan who makes the regular trek from Wiltshire, bizarrely sharing season tickets with both clubs, the exorbitant petrol costs were worth every penny as the Bluebirds kept up their remarkable start under former Halifax boss Pete Wild.

But the 640 from West Yorkshire whose loyalty points earned them a ticket to squeeze into Holker Street’s away corner must have felt like demanding a recount.

This was not what they had totted up their tally for.

Two games, one point, is hardly the time to launch into doom overdrive – though Twitter was its typically volatile volcano on Saturday night.

The first bump in the road and some were wildly claiming the wheels had flown off.

Nonsense, of course, but this was a jolting reminder of the challenges they must conquer if City are to finally live up to the lofty expectations.

Mark Hughes talked of City not being brave enough to force their own style on their keen and eager hosts.

Barrow, instead, turned it into the game they wanted – direct and physical and something that the Bantams struggled to cope with.

The defence had looked so solid against Doncaster on week one, admittedly in a game where the opposition made little attempt to cross halfway.

But this time, they were uncomfortable and nervous, unconvincing in dealing with crosses or balls over the top.

Matty Platt, so keen to make a statement on his quick return to his old stamping ground, found himself struggling at times.

Romoney Crichlow lacked the composure of the previous week and was possibly slightly fortunate to last the distance after his booking.

Brad Halliday was caught out at full back on occasions, Harry Lewis nearly embarrassed when he came for one long ball out of his box and missed it altogether – Josh Gordon sparing his blushes with an errant finish when he had an unmarked team-mate screaming for the pass.

City got better at the other end with the introduction of Jake Young and Andy Cook after the hour.

Vadaine Oliver had again made few inroads against a Barrow backline led by former City skipper Niall Canavan. The battle of the big men definitely went in favour of “big Naz”, while Lee Angol had been equally ineffective.

Nobody could have imagined such a helter-skelter finale to proceedings after a tedious first half devoid of real incident.

Wild described the opening period as a chess match; it was a paint-drying exercise for a bumper crowd of 4,012 – 800 above Barrow’s average from last season.

City had the bulk of the ball – that sentence will be repeated constantly over the coming months – but produced little from it. Let’s hope that second bit isn’t written quite so regularly.

Wasted set-pieces and crosses were the biggest bugbear. There were too many instances like Richie Smallwood’s corner not clearing the first man or Liam Ridehalgh lofting well over Oliver’s head when he had time and space to pick his spot.

Jamie Walker, whose knee problem sounds worryingly more serious than first suggested, was missed. So too the unfortunate Emmanuel Osadebe at the beginning of his long road to recovery.

Alex Gilliead had been suitably talked up pre-game by Hughes. He had his moments without making much of an impact.

Harry Chapman disappointed as City tended to play too narrow and space became as tight as on the terrace housing the travelling support.

Not that Barrow had done much better, although they did have the liveliest presence on the pitch in Ben Whitfield.

The Bingley-born winger, linked without foundation to the Bantams at one point last season, injected the pace lacking from the visitors and clearly fancied his chances of adding to his debut goal against Stockport.

His cross did provide the only flicker of concern before the break, Canavan flicking it on and over the bar on to the roof of the net as Lewis anxiously back-pedalled.

But the featureless action was turned on its head in the final 35 minutes.

Hughes had just changed his strike-force when Whitfield took matters into his own hands to break the tedium.

Patrick Brough nodded down in midfield and Whitfield drove to the edge of the D where he placed a low drive into the bottom corner. The lid had been lifted.

In a flash, City were level. Cook’s touch was worked on by Ryan East for Young inside the box and his finish crashed in off the bar for a goal just five minutes into his City career.

The ball rebounded into play but had clearly crossed the line and referee Martin Woods brushed away Barrow’s hopeful protests.

Both sides fancied their chances as we suddenly had a game on our hands.

But it was Barrow who appeared to have struck the decisive blow on 85 minutes.

City were unable to clear Whitfield’s corner, the ball pinballing around the box before landing at the feet of a surprised Josh Kay to convert from close range.

But with the board showing seven minutes of stoppage time, Young refused to give it up as a lost cause.

He rattled off another shot at goal, keeper Paul Farman could not hold on and Cook was on the spot to snaffle the rebound – maintaining his run of scoring against former employers.

Cook mocked his Barrow baiters in the crowd with a John Cena-style “you can’t see me” celebration.

But the Bluebirds had time for the last laugh, Whitfield again in the mix with a ball into the danger zone where Gordon lurked criminally unnoticed to make it back-to-back victories against teams tipped to be among the challengers.

Wild’s hopes of his rebuilt Barrow staying under the radar won’t last long if they keep up that form. Plenty of rivals will be seeing them for what they are.

But there was no hiding place for City. New players, maybe, but the same old doubts stalked those who have witnessed this sort of thing too many times before.