STEPHEN Clemence was a happy man after Barrow secured their first away league win of 2024 with a 1-0 victory at Harrogate.

The Bluebirds went the last 10 games on the road without victory last season and those away woes continued with a derby-day defeat to Carlisle.

But Huddersfield loanee Neo Eccleston’s first senior goal put that unwanted stat bed and now Clemence wants to move forward.

It has been an impressive start to life under the former Gillingham boss, with nine points from a possible 12.

And Clemence said: “There’s a lot of talk that we haven’t won away from home in a long, long time. That obviously stretches into last season, but it’s good to get that monkey off our backs.

“If we’re going to be successful this season we’ve got to pick up points on the road.

“Our home form’s been very good this season, but it’s now great to get points on the board so early too.

“I told the boys before the game it had been a good week so far, but if we got a result we’d make it a great week.

“I thought they were outstanding and thoroughly deserved to win.

“We’ve come away from home and dominated for long, long periods. Probably up until injury time when Paul Farman had to make some good saves, we were under pressure there.

“I’m really, really pleased. It’s a really good away performance.

“That’s football. You’ve always got a chance and Harrogate had a chance to equalise at the end. Their bench was getting very excited. It would have been harsh, but it happens where you don’t get the result you deserve.

“I thought the boys, to a man, really stood up to be counted.”

Captain Niall Canavan had seemingly put the visitors in front before the break before his effort was chalked off.

And Clemence was less than impressed with the officials’ potentially game-altering decision. 

“The boys were absolutely fantastic again,” added the boss.

“I felt a little bit hard done by in the dressing room, I think we all did.

“We should have been a goal ahead. I don’t know what it was disallowed for.

“I’ve seen it back and I can’t believe that it’s not been given.

“The boys had to go and win again, that’s what I told them.”

The messaging has been clear from the former Tottenham midfielder that the club cannot get carried away with their “great start”. 

“My mentality is one game at a time,” stressed Clemence.

“I’ve seen that people can get carried away with results and you can get complacent. 

“For me it’s one game at a time. I’m not worried about what other people think about us. It’s about what we do.

“It’s about how we attack the opposition and try to win games. If that brings a fear factor to opponents then so be it.

“I’m not going to get carried away. It’s a good start, we’ve got to keep working hard and keep our feet on the ground to make sure we keep going.”