THERE is an old superstition that a bird pooing on you will bring good luck. So when a seagull decided to deposit its leavings down the back of Barrow Raiders chairman Mike Sunderland's coat during the second half of yesterday's friendly against Keighley Cougars, he might at least have been able to console himself with it being a positive omen for the coming season.

Judging by their displays in pre-season though, the Raiders might not be needing too much of a helping hand from the mystic forces of fate. To borrow another well-worn cliché, you make your own luck, and head coach Paul Crarey has put together a team which few would argue seems capable of doing just that.

Yesterday saw the side bring the curtain down on their pre-season preparations with a 48-14 win over fellow Kingstone Press League One outfit Keighley Cougars which was every bit as convincing as the scoreline might suggest – not to mention ensuring they head into the League One Cup tie at Rochdale Mayfield unbeaten in those matches as well.

Of course, no-one will be getting ahead of themselves on the back of these games – Crarey and his staff will not allow anyone to, for starters – and the match-ups will take on a very different dimension once league points or progression in a knock-out competition are at stake.

Nevertheless, the signs are there that Barrow can once again mount a challenge for promotion after missing out to Toulouse Olympique in the play-off final last year. Even Toronto Wolfpack head coach Paul Rowley, who was in attendance at Craven Park, may well have been given one or two things to sit up and take notice of.

So having comfortably seen of a scratch Barrow and District side before Christmas, the Raiders have drawn with Championship outfit Oldham, and seen off Whitehaven, Coventry Bears and now Keighley – and all without fielding perhaps what Crarey would consider his first-choice starting 13.

While some of that has been down to the head coach not wanting to give away too much to his opposite numbers, it has also been dictated by injuries, with Max Wiper, Karl Ashall and Matty Holmes ruled out long-term plus a number of others being afflicted by niggles.

The match against Keighley was no different; Off-season signings Tom Walker and Brett Carter were both ruled out by injury, while Martin Aspinwall was struck down with illness the day before the game.

Jamie Dallimore was close to not playing due to illness as well, although few would have known it in a display at stand-off which saw him kick seven out of seven conversion attempts and score a superb solo try which was a result of his quick-thinking and vision.

The pre-match feeling from Barrow's point of view was that the battle of the forwards would do much to dictate which team would emerge as victors, and there was a noticeable lift in the intensity levels by the home side from the previous games during the opening exchanges.

Joe Bullock in particular was leading the charge, while Keighley invited pressure onto themselves by conceding three consecutive penalties which led to Andy Litherland opening the scoring with a try after five minutes after Ryan Fieldhouse had somehow slipped away a one-handed pass while going to ground in the tackle.

Some tough tackling forced the Cougars into handling errors as well and one of those was punished in the 12th minute following a scrum when prop Bullock smashed his way through the defence to score.

Then came Dallimore's moment of magic when he recovered a ball which had been spilled backwards and shot through a gap left by a static Keighley defence, who all seemed to be stood around waiting for someone else to make a tackle.

Powerhouse second row Jarrad Stack got in on the act as well after 23 minutes, barging his way to the try line after another knock-on in their red zone had seen Keighley give up possession, and Dan Abram sneaked over from close range after Fieldhouse had been held up just short two minutes before the hooter sounded for half time.

Bullock's knock-on from the restart allowed Keighley to strike back through an unconverted try from Josh Casey after 42 minutes, but there would be no repeat of the visitors' comeback win the previous week against Bradford Bulls.

Their cause was not helped by Casey being sent to the sin-bin nine minutes later following another string of penalties close to their line, with Barrow making the most of the man advantage when former Walney Central amateur Litherland came steaming through to score.

Despite being temporarily down to 12, the Cougars did manage a second try when Andy Ryder found a gap out wide. But a superb ball-strip and by Dan Abram led to the Raiders grabbing their seventh try of the match when trialist Tom Loxam finished off a counter-attack.

Again, Callum Dunne managed to get over for Keighley eight minutes from time, with Matty Beharrell converting, but Barrow had the final word when Litherland set up Shane Toal for a 78th-minute score, which was converted by Brad Marwood.

So now to a weekend off before the season starts for real against amateurs Mayfield, with Crarey no doubt giving his players some well-earned rest and recuperation. It also gives Sunderland a chance to get his coat cleaned – and hope that it does not wash off any good fortune in the process.