Paul Gallagher claims Barrow were denied late equaliser at Notts County

Barrow head coach Paul Gallagher said his team were wrongly denied a late equaliser in a 2-1 defeat at Notts County.

Matthew Dennis headed in a 58th-minute winner to give County – who lie second in the League Two table – a sixth successive win.

The hosts had taken a 16th-minute lead when Barrow midfielder Scott Smith diverted Nick Tsaroulla’s cross-shot into his own net, with Charlie McCann drilling the visitors level on the half-hour mark.

But the game’s most controversial moment came in the 89th minute, when Barrow defender Joe Anderson drove at goal after home keeper James Belshaw had flapped at an Elliot Newby cross, and Jacob Bedeau cleared, seemingly from behind the line.

Referee Michael Barlow did not give a goal, and with no goal-line technology to overrule him, Barrow fell to a fifth successive defeat, leaving them just three points above the relegation zone.

“We’ve gone toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the division, and I thought we deserved something out of the game,” Gallagher said.

“But we need those big moments, and the big moment is when we score near the end. It’s over the line. And those moments aren’t going for us at the minute.

“All our players are adamant it’s across the line and a few of them are actually there and we’ve watched it back. The defender on the line goes with his back foot to clear it instead of his nearest foot.

“But when you see it, it’s across the line. You don’t have the watches in this league to notify the ref that it’s a goal.

“We’ve played one of the better teams in the league and they’ve not blown us away. They know they’ve been in a game.”

Dennis’ 13th goal of the season – his third match-winner in four games – ultimately made the difference, although he ought to have had another, missing from three yards with 17 minutes left after a low cross from Tom Iorpenda.

But Notts County head coach Martin Paterson was confident that the miss would not affect the striker.

“I’m not concerned about Matthew Dennis,” Paterson said. “Matthew Dennis will score goals. We’ve got utter belief in all the strikers.”

Paterson is likely to give Lee Ndlovu more opportunities to impress as well while 13-goal striker Alassana Jatta recovers from injury.

The County head coach declined to give details of the injury, but asked about Jatta’s recovery timeframe, said: “We’re still monitoring him.

“It’s more weeks than it is anything else. It’s just making sure that he’s healed and good, but he’ll be ready.”

Paterson added: “I thought Barrow were good. Paul’s coached them well. They fought, they played, but we just managed to find a way to win.

“It’s a positive home win, no one’s getting carried away, and then we kick on to next week.”