WHEN reflecting on what was he believed was the foundation for his Nottingham Forest side going from mid-table in Division Two to the kings of European football in the late 1970s, Brian Clough always pointed to the humble Anglo-Scottish Cup.

Despite it being a much-derided and now long-defunct tournament, the charismatic manager was left in little doubt Forest's triumph in 1977 gave his players the hunger to add more prestigious silverware as it had given them a taste of glory.

Fast forward 40 years and Paul Crarey will undoubtedly be hoping Barrow Raiders' victory in the little-heralded League One Cup will prove the catalyst for his side to go on and achieve more after they overcame North Wales Crusaders 38-32 in Blackpool last Saturday.

Not that the reduced stature of this competition will particularly bother Crarey, the players or the near-on 1,000 Barrow supporters who made the pilgrimage to Bloomfield Road for the final. It has been a long time since the club have been able to celebrate success in one of these tournament.

Thirty-four years, to be precise, although the Raiders class of 2017 have now succeeded in eclipsing the 1983 Lancashire Cup winners. They went on to achieve promotion in the same season as well, so anyone looking for an omen could well point to that.

As the scoreline might suggest though, Barrow did not have it all their own way – far from it, in fact, and midway through the second half they were staring down the barrel after three tries in 12 minutes had put North Wales – inspired by lively scrum-half Ryan Smith – 30-20 in front.

This is a Barrow team which does not know when it is beaten though and it was perhaps fitting their fightback was capped off by one of the squad's many graduates of the amateur ranks in the Furness area five minutes from time.

Danny Morrow was the man who came up with what proved to be the game-clinching try five minutes from time, darting over from dummy-half for his second of the final and writing his name into the Raiders history books in the process.

It was not only appropriate that a former Walney Central amateur came up with the crucial try on a day when the club's juniors were mascots, but also as Morrow had been one of the four players forced to miss the previous week's heavy league defeat away to Toronto Wolfpack due to visa issues.

Consider those bad memories well and truly banished. The same too can be said for Jamie Dallimore as well, who played an instrumental role on his return to the halves alongside Lewis Charnock in his first game since completing a five-game suspension.

Then, of course, there are the players just starting out on their adventure in the professional game. Luke Cresswell continued his impressive season with a try, while Tom Loxam now has a cup winners' medal in his collection from only the fourth game of his career.

What is more, they were well and truly earned, and Barrow could hardly have asked for a better start to the game when a penalty from the first set saw Martin Aspinwall take the Raiders to within striking distance, followed by Nathan Mossop getting the ball down on the line despite attention from two defenders.

The conversion followed from Lewis Charnock, but the Crusaders were ahead by the midway point of the half after a penalty for a high tackle saw Jack Houghton barge his way over and then Steve Bloomfield intercept a pass from Fieldhouse on his own line and go the length of the field to score.

The Raiders were clearly suffering the effects of their hectic month, with several knock-ons and wayward passes proving costly throughout, although they manage to level the match on 25 mintues when Dallimore put in a deft grubber kick which winger Cresswell chased down to score his 14th try of the season.

Full-back Fieldhouse then atoned for his errant pass by finding Declan Hulme to send him over and another kick from Dallimore – this time a chip – saw Morrow latch onto it for his first try of the day and put the Raiders 20-12 up at half time.

The game soon swung back in the Crusaders' favour when play resumed though. A superb move involving Smith and Houghton set up Jack Hansen, then Callum Mulkeen barged his way over and finally Smith showed his individual brilliance by slicing through the Barrow defence.

Conversions from Tom Johnson – who kicked six goals in total – extended the Crusaders' lead to 10 points with 20 minutes remaining, but Barrow were not done yet and gave themselves a glimmer of hope when centre Hulme found Shane Toal for an unconverted try in the corner on the right wing.

Blackpool-born Joe Bullock was then on hand to draw Barrow closer and the conversion from Dallimore made it all squad.

Dallimore and Johnson then swapped penalties and there was a sense the next score would win it. That proved to be the case when Morrow went over and although the Crusaders still had time for one more attack, Johnson threw the ball into touch and was left lying on the ground in despair.

Barrow Raiders: Ryan Fieldhouse 8; Shane Toal 7, Declan Hulme 7, Tom Loxam 7, Luke Cresswell 7; Jamie Dallimore 8, Lewis Charnock 7; Joe Bullock 7, Nathan Mossop 7, Ollie Wilkes 7, Danny Morrow 7, Dan Toal 7, Martin Aspinwall 7. Interchange: Dan Abram 8, Tom Walker 7, James Duerden 7, Andrew Dawson 7.

North Wales Crusaders: Tom Johnson; Corey Lee, Alex Thompson, Callum Mulkeen, Dale Bloomfield; Jack Hansen, Ryan Smith; Jon Walker, James Dandy, Alex Davidson, Kenneth Baker, Jack Houghton, Luke Warburton. Interchange: Aaron Moore, Daniel Price, Andrew Unsworth, Blake Turner.

Referee: Steve Race.

Playback: 3 – Mossop try, Charnock con (6-0); 12 – Houghton try, Johnson con (6-6); 20 – Bloomfield try, Johnson con (6-12); 25 – Cresswell try, Charnock con (12-12); 33 – Hulme try (16-12); 38 – Morrow try (20-12); 45 – Hansen try, Johnson con (20-18); 54 – Mulkeen try, Johnson con (20-24); 57 – Smith try, Johnson con (20-30); 62 – S Toal try (24-30); 65 – Bullock try, Dallimore con (30-30); 69 – Johnson pen (30-32); 71 – Dallimore pen (32-32); 75 – Morrow try, Dallimore con (38-32).

Raiders star man: Ryan Fieldhouse: Despite throwing an interception, the full-back produced an outstanding display with some strong running to set up several dangerous attacks and dealt well with the high ball.