DEFENDER Jonathan Smith admitted his testimonial just needed one more thing to cap off a perfect day - a goal from him.

The 29-year-old, who played the first half for old club Accrington Stanley and most of the second half for his new club Barrow, was desperate to find the back of the net to sign off his Interlink career in style.

"I came close to scoring but it just didn't go my way," said Smith, who had six seasons with the Reds as they climbed from the UniBond First Division into the Conference. "But it was a brilliant day - the whole thing. It was a great occasion and it was everything I wanted it to be."

Accrington-born Smith walked out for the final time in a Stanley shirt with his two-year-old daughter Holly and got a rousing reception from the 322 crowd.

"Holly did almost get stage fright as she started crying when we walked out but once she got used to it she didn't want to come off!" he smiled.

"It was a bit weird playing for each club and two or three times I walked into the home dressing room when I wasn't meant to and, on corners in the second half, I started marking a white shirt as I am so used to playing for the reds."

But he lapped up every minute of it - including a 12 minute battle with his former boss John Coleman who came on in the final flurry along with assistant Jimmy Bell.

"I had to be careful marking John as I knew he would play for a penalty so I knew I couldn't dive in!" said Smith. "He has still got enough to go for a penalty, believe it or not!"

But non-league prolific striker Coleman only got close to goal once - and his header was way off target.

It was, though, a competitive work-out for both sides as Stanley looked for their first pre-season victory and Barrow fancied their chances of getting one over on their rivals.

Smith, partnered the now longest serving Reds player Robbie Williams at the back, and they both kept out Smith's new team-mates as Gavin Knight and Neil Tarrant tested new keeper Stuart Jones early on.

Coleman did have a strong line-up out but still had a look at a couple more traillists including striker Alex Hay who had a good chance for the Reds on 11 minutes but his effort was cleared off the line.

Ian Craney chipped over the bar while Paul Mullin flicked a Gary Roberts' corner just wide.

Smith swapped sides in the second half although didn't start the half for the Conference North promotion-chasers as he had been suffering from blisters. He limited his Bluebirds performance for the final half an hour - although there will be plenty more games from him for them.

The Reds then enjoyed a good spell with Mike Flynn heading one chance over the top and another of his was cleared off the line.

Coleman entered the fray in search of that elusive goal - but it never came and the day belonged to Smith.

"I suppose that was a good result for me with no one winning although we could have done with a couple of goals," said Smith. "But I had a great day - and a lot of people said some really nice things to me so it was well worth it. I leave with a lot of special memories."