Barrow boss Pete Wild believes his side ought to have had a penalty in ther loss to Bolton Wanderers in the Papa Johns Trophy but was pleased with what he saw from his side in the encounter.
The Whites took the lead when Dapo Afolayan slotted home from a lovely ball from MJ Williams. They doubled their advantage soon after that when Kieran Sadlier put in a low cross for Jon Dadi Bodvarsson to tuck home.
But the visitors were handed a way back into the game when Joel Dixon could not hold onto Ben Whitfield's shot and Josh Kay eventually turned home. It gave the visitors a route back into the encounter.
READ MORE: Bolton Wanderers player ratings vs Barrow - Dapo Afolayan and Elias Kachunga good in victory
After the break, the visitors levelled as Niall Canavan nodded home from close range after Josh Gordon flicked on from a corner. However, the Whites went back ahead as Elias Kachunga slotted home after Afolayan's shot came off the post.
Despite late pressure from the Bluebirds, Wanderers hung on to book their place in the last 16 with a 3-2 victory, albeit after an evening which they made harder work of than they needed to. One incident which went against the Cumbrian side in the encounter came in the second half.
Afolayan appeared to handle the ball from a corner, but the spot kick was not given by the officials. Wild could not hide his frustration at the decision but was pleased with what he saw from his side.
He said: "It is a penalty. We can all see it, we have all seen it back. They are the easy decisions unfortunately.
"We have got another set of officials who can't see what the rest of the ground can see. The only thing that happens is one of ours gets booked, and that is just completely wrong.
"First and foremost, Bolton are a very good side and they played well tonight. They caused us a lot of problems that we don't face in our league, so I thought we played very well.
"I think, second-half certainly, we had a right go. I think it is the best we've played when we've been behind.
"I'm really pleased how we have gone about the second-half and got ourselves back in the game. I think there are loads of positives to take from tonight.
"The lads have worked ever so hard and unfortunately we came off on the wrong side against what is a top League One team.
"I have been watching these over the last few days. They are full of talent, full of top players and whoever they roll on, we are always going to find it hard against them."
Don't miss a thing from the club you love! For all the latest updates on Wanderers, sign up to our free newsletter packed with all the latest news here.
READ NEXT:
