THE concept of the difficult third album is one of the music industry's most well-worn clichés – the theory being that it is the hardest one for a band to get right, particularly if it is highly-anticipated on the back of incredible success following their first two releases.

It is a theory which could perhaps be applied to the world of sport too. Take, for example, Barrow Raiders, a team which many eyes are on in Kingstone Press League One this season following the turnaround in fortunes since Paul Crarey came back for a second spell as head coach.

The first year was one of rebuilding, with the side narrowly missing out on the play-offs, while last year's follow-up saw the Raiders come within 80 minutes of winning promotion back to the Championship.

Now comes the 2017 campaign, where the expectations both within and outside Craven Park are that Barrow will be able to secure one of the two promotion spots up for grabs – a more Parklife of a season than a Be Here Now .

With wins over amateurs Rochdale Mayfield to assure progress in both the League One Cup and Challenge Cup already in the bag, attention turned to the first league game of the year and the visit of York City Knights on Saturday evening.

This was undoubtedly the stiffest test Crarey's side had faced so far and in the face of some foul, tempestuous early March weather, the Raiders squad displayed exactly the sort of mental fortitude which will be needed to ensure a successful year.

Wind, rain and even a flurry of snow at one point meant this was never going to be a free-flowing exhibition of rugby league. Instead, this was about executing the basics and being prepared to grind out a win if needed, which is exactly what Barrow did to secure a 28-0 victory.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the result was the fact they nilled their opponents. York may have come with a team which head coach James Ford had hastily-assembled prior to the start of the season with players released by Yorkshire's other professional sides and the amateur ranks, but the home side's defence would have been difficult for most teams in this division to break down.

That was epitomised by a 10-minute spell in the second half where the City Knights were more or less camped inside Barrow's 20 metres and four successive penalties saw the hosts put on a team warning by referee Andy Sweet. However, the Raiders held firm and when they forced a knock on to finally relieve the pressure, exuberant celebrations among the players showed their relief.

That was down to a team effort, although there were some stand-out individual moments too, with Ryan Fieldhouse bringing down York second row Edward Smith to prevent a score early on and Shane Toal bundling David Foggin-Johnston into touch with a last-gasp dive when the winger seemed certain to score.

At the other end, it was the pack doing much of the donkey work to lay the foundations and typically powerful run from Joe Bullock paved the way for Danny Morrow to step and then bash his way through the City Knights defence to open the scoring on eight minutes with a try under the posts which Lewis Charnock converted.

A fast-flowing move which belied the atrocious conditions led to Luke Cresswell grabbing an unconverted try nine minutes later, with half-back duo Jamie Dallimore and Charnock combining to work the ball out to Fieldhouse, who in turn picked out the former Barrow Island amateur on the wing.

Then on 21 minutes, Charnock put in a steepling kick which Jarrad Stack – back in the second row after playing at centre the previous week – leapt high above both team-mate Dallimore and the York defence to pluck out of the air and dot down for a try which was also converted.

The Dallimore-Charnock-Fieldhouse triumvirate produced Barrow's fourth try on the half-hour mark, with Toal the beneficiary on the opposite wing this time around after the full-back found him with a cut-out pass when the City Knights defence left space out wide.

After this, the game became a brutal battle for territory and possession where Barrow's defensive qualities came to the fore, while tempers also began to get frayed and Mr Sweet had to have a quiet word with both captains following two mass confrontations.

Had it not been for some eagle-eyed touch judges spotting forward passes, the Raiders may well have added to their try tally sooner, but it was not until seven minutes from time that Toal added his second of the match after taking a pass from Delcan Hulme.

Charnock completed the scoring in the 78th minute, although somehow missed what seemed a relatively simple conversion attempt. Nevertheless, the Raiders had the win in the bag and, more importantly, passed the first examination of their promotion credentials.

Barrow Raiders: Ryan Fieldhouse 7; Shane Toal 7, Declan Hulme 7, Andy Litherland 7, Luke Cresswell 7; Jamie Dallimore 7, Luke Cresswell 7; Joe Bullock 7, Nathan Mossop 8, Ollie Wilkes 7, Danny Morrow 7, Jarrad Stack 8, Martin Aspinwall 8. Interchange: Dan Abram 7, Andrew Dawson 7, Tom Walker 7, Bradd Crellin 7.

York City Knights: Ashley Robson; Thomas Brierley, Neville Morrison, Joe Batchelor, David Foggin-Johnston; Harry Tyson-Wilson, Daniel Sowerby; Adam Robinson, Harry Carter, Keiran Moran, Bradley Hey, Edward Smith, Timothy Spear. Interchange: Joseph Porter, Patrick Smith, Liam Thompson, Ronan Dixon.

Referee: Andy Sweet.

Attendance: 766.

Playback: 11 – Morrow try, Charnock con (6-0); 17 – Cresswell try (10-0); 21 – Stack try, Charnock con (16-0); 30 – Toal try (20-0); 73 – Toal try (24-0); Charnock try (28-0).

Raiders star man: Jarrad Stack: Back in the second row after playing at centre the previous week, Stack did what he does best. He ran and tackled hard for the whole 80 minutes, and some superb awareness and athleticism allowed him to grab a try as well.