McClelland makes it two on the bounce with Barrow
27 FEB 2023
Sam McClelland gets our loan performance of the week after playing a key role for Barrow as the reignited their promotion hopes with back-to-back league wins...
Centre-back Sam McClelland is in his first campaign on loan after joining Barrow in League Two at the start of 2022/23 and the early-season surprise package are back in the hunt in the top half of the table after consecutive 1-0 victories.
It is the first time Barrow have won back-to-back league games in nearly four months, having stumbled after a flying start to the campaign which saw them sitting as high as second place at the start of October, having narrowly avoided relegation the previous year.
Their dip in form coincided with McClelland missing three months of action, but the 21-year-old returned at the start of February and has featured in every minute since in League Two. That includes last week's 1-0 win away at Bradford City - only their second victory since the middle of November - and he played an important part as they followed it up with another clean sheet and 1-0 win on Saturday.
This time Barrow were at home against Stockport County, who had won their previous five league games in a row. But Stockport could find no way past Northern Ireland international McClelland and his fellow defenders, who restricted the visitors to just a single shot on target, despite them enjoying 63 per cent of the possession.
McClelland even came close to opening the scoring himself, when a second-half corner dropped to him six yards out, but he didn't have time to adjust his body and his effort went over the bar.
However, Barrow did take their narrow lead with 20 minutes remaining and were able to rely on their solid defence to keep Stockport out, even if it needed one dangerous effort to be cleared from under his own crossbar by McClelland. That secured a vital victory, which takes them back within five points of the play-off places.
Well done Sam, keep it going!
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