NOBODY said it was going to be easy and it wasn’t, but Barrow Raiders’ escape from the cash-draining League One was worth every gnawed finger nail and muttered swear word that were all part of Sunday’s play-off game against Whitehaven.

Of the three games played over the weekend it probably ranked a distant third in the minds of rugby league followers nationwide.

For everybody in the 3,128 crowd at Craven Park it was the be-all-and-end-all. And that’s exactly how it should have been.

Chairman David Sharpe described it as a special day for the club; a day of blood and guts and was full of praise for coach Paul Crarey “who has done a wonderful job and put so much work into this club.”

What next for Cresta – the man who led the Raiders into their promised land of the Championship? Barrow won 27 of their 32 matches, losing only to Whitehaven at the Recreation Ground, twice in Toronto and once at Super League Grand Finalists Leeds Rhinos.

Of course there were some easy days along the way but, Toronto apart, Barrow were the best team in League One. When it comes to personal awards Crarey manages to go unnoticed but that may have more to do with the fact that he spends his time on rooftops fixing them rather than to shout from.

On the subject of promised lands – and without trying to go all biblical on you – the Raiders coach has set himself another mission for 2018. The miracle of survival in their new surroundings.

While the rest of us were celebrating success, he was warning of a reality check for the future.

“If we are going to survive it’s a massive task. It will be so hard to stay up, I’d even go so far as to say it will be a miracle.”

But, fear not, folks – sporting miracles are nowhere near as rare as those in the Good Book.

Didn’t Claudio Ranieri perform one at Leicester City a couple of years ago (before they were daft enough to sack him). And don’t Liverpool fans still talk about The Miracle of Istanbul in 2005 when Steven Gerard led them back from 3-0 down to beat Milan and lift the Champions League Trophy.

There are some who can remember when running a four-minute mile was considered impossible and a 17-year-old German could never win Wimbledon.

So it only takes a lot of faith to achieve your sporting miracle. Let’s hope that Cresta does get his big wish – and the fans who turned up on Sunday will be back next season.

ANOTHER 84,000-plus turn-out at Wembley to see New Orleans Saints beat Miami Dolphins 20-0 in the NFL.

Whether or not they were the same 84,000 who watched the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Baltimore Ravens a week earlier I don’t know but one thing’s for sure – this craze for American sport is lasting a lot longer than the hula-hoop.

While our two codes of rugby struggle to make an impact across the pond with gates 7,000 or so, the hard-hatted brigade could probably fill our national stadium seven days a week such is the enthusiasm for gridiron.

Personally, I don’t see the attraction of a sport that stops every 15 seconds, a 60-minute match takes the best part of three hours or more and a touchdown isn’t actually a touchdown.

Each to their own, but give me a wet and windy Craven Park any day.

IT won’t make Frank de Boer, sacked by Crystal Place after four games, fell any better but he might like to know that he is unlikely to be the last Premier League boss to leave his job early.

Judging by the pearls of wisdom coming from the latest round of phone-ins, there is a group of bosses who will soon be forming an orderly queue to join the Dutchman at the job centres.

After Saturday’s round of fixtures the names of Tony Pulis (West Brom) Slaven Bilic (West Ham), Paul Clement (Swansea) and Leicester City’s Craig Shakespeare were all up for target practice from disgruntled supporters.

You could almost see the steam coming out of Robbie Savage’s ears when he heard one West Bromwich Albion fan suggest that it might be a good idea to replace Pulis with Carlo Ancelotti, recently deposed Bayern Munich manager.

The very idea that a man who has managed a list of leading European clubs including Juventus, Milan, Chelsea, PSG and Real Madrid, would think of joining West Brom – or maybe even know where it is – had his spitting feathers.

“You’re West Brom! You’re tenth in the League!” he shouted dismissing the idea out of hand.

But such is the strange world of football management that Craig Shakespeare, who was hailed as the man who saved them from relegation is now suddenly “out of his depth.”

Bilic, is under pressure even after a victory over Clement’s Swansea. Two managers under fire after the same game – that must be some sort of record.

A day later former striker turned pundit Chris Sutton was calling for Everton to dump Ronald Koeman and put another Dutchman out of his misery.

And it isn’t only in the Premier League where managers are gone in a flash. Those of you who have helped me endure the miseries of Corby Town’s successive relegations might be interested to know that, with a third drop – this time from the EvoStik North into goodness knows where a real possibility – sacked their manager only last week and promoted the youth team boss. The result: a 2-1 win over Stocksbridge Park Steels (the club who launched Jamie Vardy) and a climb out of the bottom three.

At least those beleaguered Premier League bosses can’t lose another match for a couple of weeks. Thank goodness for international breaks, eh?