Fleetwood Town

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Jamie Vardy

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Fleetwood Town 4-1 Barrow

Micky Mellon's Fleetwood Town claimed pole position in the league standings with a comfortable 4-1 victory over Barrow at Highbury on Tuesday evening.

In-form striker Jamie Vardy was, once again, the star of the show as he bagged a brace and created another to help his team maintain their promotion aspirations.

Peter Till and debutant Danny Rose scored Fleetwood's other two goals, while Ritchie Baker scored a consolation for the visitors late in the second half.

The hosts were looking to bounce back from a heavy FA Cup defeat to Blackpool, and made a perfect start to the encounter when Vardy's cross-cum-shot was parried by goalkeeper Danny Hurst and Till pounced to slot home from close range.

Till almost doubled his and Fleetwood's tally on 16 minutes but Hurst did well to tip his powerful close-range effort wide of the post.

The Bluebirds managed to create a chance of their own in the 22nd minute but Andy Cook's 25-yard strike was collected comfortably by 'keeper Scott Davies.

The scoreline remained unchanged for the remainder of the half as efforts from Fleetwood's Vardy and Rose failed to seriously test Hurst's goal.

Fleetwood came flying out of the starting blocks at the start of the second period and extended their lead in the 48th minute when Vardy brought Andy Mangan's looping cross under control before firing into the top-right corner.

Barrow almost pulled one back shortly after but Cook's goal-bound effort was well stopped by Davies.

The hosts went further ahead in the 54th minute when Rose smashed Shaun Beeley's cut-back into the back of the net from inside the penalty box.

Credit to Barrow, though, as they didn't give up the fight and they managed to restore some pride in the 70th minute as substitute Joe Jackson converted Ritchie Baker's free-kick with a close-range finish.

However, Vardy was not yet done and bagged his second of the evening in the 84th minute with a smart finish from a tight angle after latching onto Alan Goodall's through pass.

And Jackson almost bagged another goal at the death but his header from a corner struck the post and was subsequently cleared by Fleetwood's defence.

Fleetwood bookings: Cavanagh, Goodall.

Barrow bookings: Bolland.

Ref: Bratt.

Att: 2,091