BARROW Raiders took another step on the road to Blackpool after overcoming holders Keighley Cougars 28-6 in the quarter-finals of the League One Cup.

Tries from Luke Cresswell, Ryan Fieldhouse, Jamie Dallimore, Declan Hulme and Andy Litherland, plus two penalties and two conversions from Lewis Charnock, proved enough to see the Raiders into the last four for the first time.

Head coach Paul Crarey has made no secret of his desire to win this competition and he went with his strongest-available starting 13, having rotated the squad for the previous week's league win over Hemel Stags.

The home side could hardly have asked for a better start, with the recalled winger Cresswell opening the scoring with an unconverted try after just two minutes when he took a cut-out pass from Fieldhouse and dived over in the corner.

Four minutes later, Barrow were in again when scrum-half Charnock put through a deft grubber kick with the outside of his right foot and half-back parter Dallimore raced through the Keighley defence to dive down over the line and score.

Charnock added the extras and there were no further scores until the 32 minute when he added a penalty from 20 metres out following a dump tackle by Matty Beharrell on Dan Toal.

Indeed, much of the first half proved a tense and slightly tetchy affair, with referee Nick Bennett allowing plenty of leeway for play to be slowed down around the ruck.

Dallimore and Shane Toal both had possible tries ruled out in the first half for a double movement and forward pass respectively as well, while Keighley were thwarted in their attempts to get on the board by a combination of the Raiders' impressive defence and handling errors.

Yet Fieldhouse was able to get his way over just as the hooter sounded to signal half time, jinking his way through the defence, although Charnock was unable to convert.

Barrow pushed even further in front six minutes into the second half when Hulme made a break following a penalty and powered through from around 30 metres out for a try which was converted by Charnock.

A yellow card for Dan Toal four minutes later after he shoved over a Keighley player at the play-the-ball left the Raiders temporarily down to 12 men and they were punished by the away side, who became the first opponents to score at Craven Park in four hours and 50 minutes when Adam Brook forced his way over, with Beharrell converting.

But Keighley were unable to break down the defence after this and Litherland put the seal on the win for Barrow with two minutes to go, having had a try ruled out earlier in the half after being held up over the line.

Charnock then kicked another penalty as the final hooter sounded, with the Raiders now just one win away from appearing in the final at Bloomfield Road come the end of May.

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

Keighley Cougars: Ritchie Hawkyard; Vinny Finnigan, Davey Dixon, Adam Ryder, Andrew Gabriel; William Milner, Matty Beharrell; Scott Law, James Feather, Francis Welsh, Joshua Lynam, Josh Tonks, Michael Emmett. Interchange: Brendon Rawlins, Adam Brook, Matthew Bailey, Brad Nicholson.

Referee: Nick Bennett.