Last updated at 14:00, Monday, 18 June 2012

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NORTHERN RAIL CUP QUARTER-FINAL RESULT

HALIFAX RLFC 54 BARROW RAIDERS 24

THE aim for Barrow this season is to earn a place in the Championship and yesterday they showed they would be a worthy addition to the higher league.

Barrow teams in the same league as Fax have failed to test them as much as this young, much-changed side did at the Shay and though they will come away disappointed, they should not let that emotion last for long.

There were some great signs as players such as Dan Toal, Scott Kaighan and Ryan Shaw showed themselves more than capable of competing against teams a tier higher up the pyramid.

Play like this – minus the final 10 minutes when fatigue finally set in – for the rest of the league season and there will be two more games against Halifax next year in the Championship.

Demonstrating that not all lessons are well learnt, Barrow found themselves repeatedly on the back foot in the opening 15 minutes as they conceded five penalties and allowed Fax to camp in their territory.

The pressure was always going to result in points and it could have done sooner had Paul White successfully collected a Sean Penkywicz kick through, but his handling could not match his electric pace.

The home side did lead though after back-to-back penalties against Raiders – the first when skipper Liam Harrison became frustrated with referee George Stokes and let his feelings be known – with Sam Barlow charging over only moments after he was held up over the line.

The lead quickly increased to 10-0 after another penalty for interfering at the play the ball proved costly, with Anthony Thackeray ghosting his way through the Barrow defence from 10 yards out.

By this point, Raiders had yet to have the ball in the Fax half, but they took full advantage when they eventually did.

With a penalty awarded them close to the line for a high tackle, Liam Campbell threw an inside ball to Toal and he went over by the sticks, through a swarm of Halifax arms.

With the margin closed to four points, the momentum swung in favour of Raiders, who took strength from seeing Craig Ashall waste a chance of a breakaway try after good running from Thackeray.

They returned to the other end, where Kaighan showed powerful legs to go in between the posts, but could not quite ground, before debutant Ryan Duffy – barely on the field for two minutes – rolled the ball over his shoulder to score after Fax conceded another penalty.

Suddenly Barrow were in front, but they had woken the sleeping beast and Halifax responded with two tries before half-time.

The first came as Lee Paterson ended a flowing passing move involving Paul Handforth, Thackeray and Ryan Fieldhouse and the second as Penkywicz showed great awareness from dummy-half, broke and sent Adam Robinson in. There were chances for Raiders to respond once more before the break, but Ryan Shaw was held up over the line on the back of a great Lee Haney run and offload and Harrison could not find a way through on the left.

Fax were quick to increase their lead in the second half, though in fortunate circumstances. Toal charged down a Pnkywicz kick, but saw Paul Handforth scramble back to collect it, before getting up and racing away, finding Michael Haley, who drew Haney and sent Thackeray in for his second.

The game was all but up now and another penalty proved costly for Raiders as Campbell was penalised for interfering with a play the ball and Handforth sent Robinson in.

Handforth almost had Craig Ashall in for yet another score between the sticks, but his pass was ruled forward and Barrow were able to momentarily breathe easy.

They took their chance to instead strike back, Toal showing great footwork and upper-body strength to go through the home defence from 10 yards out.

This was no flash-in-the-pan revival either and there was soon another score for the visitors, with Mike Backhouse, Shaw and Brad Marwood showing quick hands to keep the ball alive.

This allowed Kaighan to break and he made good ground before sending the supporting Backhouse in for his first try of the season. The gap was still 10 and the next score would be crucial.

It did not go to Barrow though, with Harrison appealing the ball was ripped out near the Fax line while Fieldhouse played to the whistle and broke.

He took his side up to within 10 yards of the Raiders whitewash and two tackles later Penkywicz went in from dummy half to make it 38-24.

Barrow were now becoming a little too desperate to score and made errors that prevented them coming close before allowing Robinson to break from halfway and send Fieldhouse in to seal the deal for the hosts with nine minutes to go.

Fieldhouse turned provider with a similar break to send hometown boy Anthony Bowman in for his first Halifax try, before Rob Worrincy ended the scoring on the hooter – a 30-point win far from telling the tale of the match.

First published at 14:14, Sunday, 17 June 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk