Late blitz fires Barrow Raiders to victory over York

WE will play you anytime and anywhere – that was the message from the Barrow Raiders to their League One rivals yesterday, writes CHRIS JACKSON.

The on-off saga of where and when the Raiders would make the trip to York City Knights provided an interesting backdrop to their latest Super 8’s encounter.

However, Paul Crarey’s men put the off-the-field distractions to the back of their minds as the troubled Knights became the latest side to feel the force of a rejuvenated Raiders outfit, who recorded their sixth win on the bounce.

However, the visitors were left scratching their heads as to why they were only six points to the good at the interval after largely dominating the first stanza.

With Jamie Dallimore orchestrating affairs with the boot behind a solid pack, the Raiders took the game to the home side when firstly Martin Aspinwall was held up just shy of the whitewash before fine flowing hands along the line saw York short of numbers but Chris Fleming was unable to gather the ball despite having the line at his mercy.

In the Raiders’ next attack, Chris Hankinson led the home defence a merry dance with a mazy run to give Ryan Fieldhouse, a glimpse of line, but the ball squirmed out of the full-back’s grasp, as he attempted to reach for the whitewash before Saxton’s try-saving tackle denied Cameron Pitman from close range.

Anthony Bate was the next to threaten the home line with a dabbed kick just yards out before Dallimore’s magic had the Knights at sixes and sevens as Hankinson and Bate gave Pitman another opportunity to go over but he was unable to ground the ball over the whitewash.

However, the Raiders were finally rewarded for their first-half pressure when Bate injected pace into a visitors’ move to pave the way for Hankinson to force his way over.

However, the Raiders’ lead proved short lived at the start of the second half as York levelled matters when good hands from Pat Smith kept the ball alive before Russ Spiers spotted a gap in the Raiders’ defence and he shrugged off the last-ditch attentions of Ryan Fieldhouse to go over under the posts.

The visitors responded positively to the setback when Hankinson’s towering bomb caused havoc in the home defence but the ball narrowly evaded Raiders runners before Dallimore looked to jink his way to the home line, in their next attack, but he was rounded up by retreating York defenders before he was unable to get his pass away.

The home side were commanding a greater share of possession and field position in the second half but Dallimore was doing his utmost to keep the Knights penned deep inside their own half with a succession of kicks to the corner With the game in the balance, the Raiders made the telling score when Nathan Mossop’s darting run put the Knights on the backfoot and with home heads still in a spin, fine flowing hands involving Aspinwall, Brad Crellin and Pitman presented the opportunity to Eze Harper to sneak in at the corner.

The on-loan winger was in the thick of the action and the Raiders effectively sealed the deal, three minutes later, when Hankinson’s break split open the York defence and Harper, was on his shoulder, to race to the line unchallenged for his second score of the afternoon. It was fitting the Raiders had the final say, when just seconds before the hooter, a timely break gave the Raiders a two-on-one and Crellin ushered a lovely dummy before racing for the line with a minimum of fuss.

In a traditional, old-fashioned game of rugby league, it was the Raiders’ players and fans who made the long trek home in jubilant mood.