Alex Revell admits his Stevenage players struggled to deal with the opening-day pressure after they beat Barrow 1-0 in Sky Bet League Two at a rocking Lamex Stadium.

Jake Reeves’ goal moments after half-time secured the points for Revell’s hosts as Barrow boss Mark Cooper was dealt a blow in his first game in charge.

Boro were at far from their fluent best in front of their returning supporters and Revell was relieved to battle over the line.

The 38-year-old said: “It was a really tough game.

“With everything that this game had on it, in terms of the first game back in front of the fans and new players playing, I think the players felt the pressure of that a little bit.

“But I think first games always do that and most importantly, we won the game.

“You didn’t see our style of play as well as we would have liked but we probably should have gone on and won by more at the end.

“Ultimately it is about winning games. We probably weren’t quite at it but it is a great start for us and everyone is delighted.

“It was fantastic to start the second half like that and the goal was one of the patterns that we work on. You hoped it would settle us down but we had to deal with long balls and we really had to work hard.”

Midfielder Reeves hauled the hosts into the lead just seconds after the break as he fired home Jamie Reid’s cross to send the Lamex into raptures.

But Barrow rallied throughout the second period and could count themselves unlucky as Josh Kay spurned a golden opportunity with only Joseph Anang to beat.

The hosts almost doubled their advantage in the dying moments but former Stevenage goalkeeper Paul Farman was on hand to parry away Reid’s curling effort.

It marked a disappointing start for former Forest Green chief Cooper and the Barrow boss said: “I thought the performance was alright. We weren’t scintillating or free-flowing before we conceded the goal but I felt we were really comfortable in the first half and defensively we were sound.

“I asked the players to keep concentrating defensively and 20 seconds into the second half, we didn’t defend properly.

“We are too easy to be beaten and then we are chasing the game.

“After the goal, we gambled and asked questions and put players forward. We had a lot of the ball in and around the six-yard box but somebody has got to score.

“Someone has to hit the target and stay calm and put the ball in the back of the net. We had to score.

“We had enough opportunities to score and I didn’t think we deserved to lose.”