ON A day when the League One Cup got under way with a match-up featuring the amateurs hoping to upset the professionals, the round-ball game's own knock-out competition was serving up a surprise of its own.

But while non-league Lincoln City managed to seal their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals at the expense of Premier League outfit Burnley, there was to be no such surprise at the Mayfield Sports Centre, where Barrow Raiders overcame their opponents to move into the last eight.

Rugby league does not generally lend itself to major upsets in these type of clashes; the attritional, physical and fast-paced nature of the sport make it nigh-on impossible to keep one side at bay and hope to nick a result, for starters.

Of course, they can happen – just ask Newcastle Thunder, London Skolars, Hemel Stags and South Wales, who all fell to amateur opposition in the third round of the Challenge Cup last year. However, historically those results are the rare exception.

The fact Raiders head coach Paul Crarey named arguably his strongest-available starting 13 for Saturday's trip to Rochdale Mayfield was a sign of how seriously he was taking the threat posed by the side who qualified for this competition by winning last year's Conference Challenge Trophy though.

And naming an interchange bench comprising four forwards – powerful trio James Duerden, Brad Brennan and Brad Crellin, plus hooker Dan Abram – was a sign of how much of a physical contest he was expecting, which proved to be exactly the case.

It may have been Jamie Dallimore who led the way for the Raiders with a hat-trick of tries, but it was the pack who laid the foundation for the victory. Props Joe Bullock and Ollie Wilkes in particular played a huge role in the forwards imposing themselves on Mayfield.

That is not to say that Dallimore did not have to ride out some rough treatment though, being the victim of a late hit five minutes into the second half which saw Callum Ogden sent to the sin bin and copping some other shots as the hosts tried to halt one of Barrow's most creative players.

Referee Tom Crashley's rigorous interpretation of the high tackle rule saw Mayfield repeatedly penalised too, with Simon Moore also spending 10 minutes on the sidelines as a result, but do not presume they were simply a team of 13 bruisers.

Half-back duo Paul Brearley and Zak Hartley – the latter of whom scored two tries and kicked three conversions – showed plenty of spark and inventiveness when they got their hands on the ball, while full-back Lewis Sheridan was dangerous with his penetrating runs and got a try to cap his eye-catching performance.

Indeed, it was Sheridan who recovered the ball when Mayfield caught Barrow cold in the opening act of the tie after taking a short kick-off. The visitors were able to repel that attack those and soon began to make inroads of their own, with Bullock the man leading the charge.

It was his charge from a penalty which put the away side into a position to strike, with Lewis Charnock twisting his way out of a tackle to score and kicking the first of his six conversions to put his side ahead after six minutes.

Another trademark burst and offload from Bullock then set up skipper Wilkes to power through for a try four minutes later, while another penalty in the 19th minute saw Barrow run a play which stretched the defence and was finished in the corner by winger Luke Cresswell, who collected a cut-out pass from Ryan Fieldhouse.

The fact Mayfield had used up five of their permitted interchanges just after the midway point of the half compared to Barrow's one was a sign of how much the home side were being worn down and they fell further behind on 26 minutes when Shane Toal - who also coped effortlessly with the barrage of high balls sent his way all afternoon - evaded several tackle attempts to dot down Barrow's fourth try.

Dallimore's second followed almost straight from the restart and Charnock's conversion gave Barrow a 30-point lead with less than half an hour played. But having forced a drop-out, some neat interplay between Brearley and Hartley led to the latter getting Mayfield on the board three minutes before the half-time hooter sounded.

The home side's task was made harder when Ogden and Moore were shown yellow cards in quick succession, although they only conceded one try during this period when Dallimore got his second.

Then, back to their full complement, Mayfield worked their way up the field and scored through Sheridan in the 58th minute, although Barrow stand-off Dallimore completed his haul when he kicked forward from a knock-on and gather up the ball to dot down five minutes later.

A mistake by Barrow let Hartley in for his second in the 65th minute, with the scrum-half intercepting a pass inside his own half and racing in from over 60 metres to score in the corner, despite the best efforts of Cresswell to chase him down.

The final word went to the Raiders though when off-season signing Declan Hulme got his first try for the club, which Dallimore converted. The teams now have a week to rest up before meeting again at Craven Park in the Challenge Cup third round this Sunday.

Barrow Raiders: Ryan Fieldhouse 7; Shane Toal 7, Andy Litherland 7, Declan Hulme 7, Luke Cresswell 7; Jamie Dallimore 7, Lewis Charnock 7; Joe Bullock 8, Nathan Mossop 7, Ollie Wilkes 8, Danny Morrow 7, Jarrad Stack 7, Martin Aspinwall 7. Interchange: Dan Abram 6, James Duerden 7, Bradd Crellin 7, Brad Brennan 6.

Rochdale Mayfield: Lewis Sheridan; Keiran Harmer, Matty Ashton, Matt Chrimes, Ben Namulatava; Paul Brearley, Zak Hartley; James Shaw, Callum Ogden, Simon Moore, Sean Watkins, Callum Marriott, Seta Tala. Interchange: Declan Sheridan, Jimmy Connaughton, Nic Hargreaves, Cameron Connolly.

Referee: Tom Crashley.

Sin-bin: 45 – Callum Ogden (late hit); 47 – Simon Moore (high tackle).

Playback: 6 – Charnock try and con (0-6); 10 – Wilkes try, Charnock con (0-12); 19 – Cresswell try, Charnock con (0-18); 26 – Toal try, Charnock con (0-24); 28 – Dallimore try, Charnock con (0-30); 37 – Hartley try and con (6-30); 50 – Dallimore try, Charnock con (6-36); 58 – L Sheridan try, Hartley con (12-36); 63 – Dallimore try (12-40); 65 – Hartley try and con (18-40); 72 – Hulme try, Dallimore con (18-46).

Barrow Raiders star man: Joe Bullock: Both him and fellow prop Ollie Wilkes led from the front, with Bullock's work in defence helping the pack assert themselves on Mayfield, and his offloading game and strong runs laying the foundation for several Barrow tries.