History repeated as Hunslet fall to cup-winning Raiders

In a strange coincidence 34 years later, the Raiders hosted the South Leeds side in their first game since lifting the League One Cup and just like then, they emerged victorious against another side vying to achieve promotion.

There were times on Saturday where it did not seem as if that would be the case though, in particular during the first half when an uncharacteristically out-of-sorts display from the home side saw them trailing 18-12.

And those in attendance could have been forgiven for thinking there were times when they were watching a game from another era of rugby league as well, with tempers fraying and culminating in Hunslet's Sean Hesketh being sent off for a cynical high tackle on Martin Aspinwall.

That came with nine minutes to go and the game still very much in the balance – Barrow having clawed their way back to lead by two points – and the Raiders duly made the most of their numerical advantage when Ryan Fieldhouse put the seal on the 28-20 win with a try two minutes from time.

A further brawl erupted in the aftermath of that score which resulted in away side hooker George Flanagan being sin-binned and left the game to finish on a somewhat sour note, despite Barrow parading the cup won the previous week after the full-time hooter.

Had referee Callum Straw clamped down on incidents of foul play earlier in the game then such scenes may well have been avoided, although ultimately Barrow's only concern will be the fact they managed to win a game where they were not at their best.

It had been a positive start from the hosts though, with Brett Carter – playing his first game since March in place of the injured Shane Toal – being held up just short and Luke Cresswell only being denied when he fumbled a pass into touch close to the line.

These moments and others during the game showed the Raiders have not yet quite adapted to the more patient approach head coach Paul Crarey wants them to show, yet that is balanced with him not wanting to rein in their attacking instincts and desire to play expansive rugby too much.

Hunslet, on the other hand, were much more direct with the ball in hand and they used that to good effect when they opened the scoring on eight minutes, with prop Hesketh crashing over after Mufaro Mvududu's run had the defence in disarray.

Danny Ansell's conversion attempt hit the posts and Barrow took the lead eight minutes later when the returning Eze Harper finished off a devastating counter-attack, taking the ball from Jamie Dallimore and then exchanging passes with Cresswell to score under the posts, giving Lewis Charnock a simple conversion attempt.

It was a counter-attack which undid Barrow again three minutes later though, with Jimmy Watson intercepting a pass aimed for Carter by Charnock on his own line and sprinting clear to set Ansell up for a score which he duly converted.

Hunslet scrum-half Ansell added a penalty on 29 minutes, but the Raiders hit back straight away when Watson fumbled the kick-off and Dallimore scooped up the loose ball to race away and score under the posts, with Charnock's conversion levelling the match.

However, Hunslet were back in front just before the break when Flanagan finished from a spell of pressure. Yet the see-saw nature continued when play resumed as Dallimore set up Fieldhouse for his first try of the game.

Ansell and Charnock then exchanged penalties, with the latter kicking Barrow ahead with a second on 61 minutes. Then when Hesketh received his marching orders, it allowed the Raiders to seize the initiative and they duly did that thanks to Fieldhouse sprinting through a gap to score.

Barrow Raiders: Ryan Fieldhouse 7; Brett Carter 5, Declan Hulme 7, Eze Harper 8; Luke Cresswell 6; Jamie Dallimore 6, Lewis Charnock 7; Joe Bullock 7, Nathan Mossop 6, Tom Walker 6, Danny Morrow 7, Jarrad Stack 7, Martin Aspinwall 7. Interchange: Karl Ashall 6, Andrew Dawson 7, Dan Toal 6, James Duerden 6.

Hunslet: Jimmy Watson; Josh Nathaniel, Mufaro Mvududu, Cameron Leeming; Marcus Webb; Joel Gibson, Danny Ansell; Sean Hesketh, Jack Lee, Michael Haley, Aston Wilson, Liam Macky, Nyal Flynn. Interchange: George Flanagan, Matt Carbitt, Jack Walton, Jack Coventry.

Referee: Callum Straw.

Sin-bin: Hunslet: George Flanagan (fighting, 78).

Sent off: Hunslet: Sean Hesketh (high tackle, 78).

Attendance: 913.

Playback: 8 – Hesketh try (0-4); 16 – Harper try, Charnock con (6-4); 19 – Ansell try and con (6-10); 29 – Ansell pen (6-12); 30 – Dallimore try, Charnock con (12-12); 37 – Flanagan try, Ansell con (12-18); 45 – Fieldhouse try, Charnock con (18-18); 53 – Ansell pen (18-20); 61 – Charnock pen (20-20); 71 – Charnock pen (22-20); 78 – Fieldhouse try, Charnock con (28-20).

Raiders star man: Eze Harper: Barely looked like he had been away after slotting in seamlessly on his return for Barrow and capped his display off with a well-worked try.