Mark Cooper was left seething by two key decisions that went against his Barrow battlers on a wintry night at the Memorial Stadium.

A magnificent Antony Evans strike from 25 yards on 82 minutes kept Rovers moving towards the League Two play-off zone.

But Cooper, again watching from the stands because of suspension, insisted referee David Rock was wrong to send off Niall Canavan on 32 minutes for pulling back Leon Clarke.

And the Barrow boss was also incensed that Rock refused to allow his side to make a substitution just before Evans’ match-winning strike.

Cooper said: “The sending-off was for the touch of an arm on a shoulder, which shouldn’t have been enough to bring a big striker down.

“In any case, their player did not have control of the ball so it was not a clear scoring chance.

“We wanted to make a substitution and they scored with us still trying to do it. The fourth official told me he informed the referee that we wanted to make the change before the goal, but he wouldn’t allow it.

“My lads were magnificent and deserved something from the game. We defended our box brilliantly and they are very angry in the dressing room.

“I told them we don’t want to end the season talking about bad luck. But I feel for them tonight.

“Even after Rovers scored, we bombarded their goal. It is very frustrating to be going home with nothing.”

Rovers boss Joey Barton said: “It was the same sort of game at their place. They defended heroically and credit to them. The longer it went on, I thought it was Groundhog Day.

“Their keeper (Paul Farman) was inspired tonight and it was going to take something really special to beat him. Luckily, we have Antony Evans.

“I had a pop at him on Saturday because I thought he was shooting from unrealistic angles. I think that was still ringing in his ears in the first half.

“It was a goal worthy of winning any game, but I’d have taken one going in off someone’s backside.

“I’ll sit down now, have a cup of tea and reflect on a good night’s work.

“We’re coming into form at the right time but we’ve still got 14 fences to get over.

“The lads are on a learning curve but winning games accelerates that and we’re finding different ways of winning them.

“I thought we were really professional and it’s an important three points. We controlled the game for 80 minutes.

“The stakes are getting higher now and we’ve got another tough one when we cross the bridge to take on Newport on Saturday.”