KINGSTONE PRESS LEAGUE ONE

BARROW RAIDERS 28 NORTH WALES CRUSADERS 4

ANYONE who was expecting a repeat of the thrilling League One Cup final meeting will have left Craven Park at full-time feeling slightly disappointed, but it was a different side of Barrow Raiders’ game which came to the fore in the 28-4 victory over North Wales Crusaders.

Before the match, head coach Paul Crarey had signalled his intention to take Crusaders on up front, having been disappointed with the way the Welsh side’s pack had been able to assert their authority in Blackpool just three weeks prior to this Kingstone Press League One encounter.

So it was a more direct, conservative approach adopted by the Raiders this time around, and it worked pretty much to perfection as the visitors were barely allowed to get a foothold at any stage of the game.

Not that it was simply a case of five drives and a kick, as there was a more subtle nuance to Raiders’ game than just bashing the ball up the middle. The darting dummy-half runs from hookers Nathan Mossop and Dan Abram were key to setting up some dangerous attacks.

Brad Marwood – in at scrum half for the rested Lewis Charnock – was highly effective on his first appearance since the 58-42 win at Keighley Cougars, and his two first-half tries were just reward for his efforts.

And the focus on defence in training recently helped not only stifle the threat posed by the North Wales pack, but also restricted the away side to a single unconverted try, with Crarey having worked on a system shown to him by former Barrow team-mate, coach and good friend Rod Reddy.

The difference in approach was seen straight from the opening set, and having kicked off Raiders were able to prevent North Wales exiting their own half – something which would become a recurring theme on a balmy, energy-sapping Cumbrian evening.

A knock-on and a forward pass saw Barrow unable to capitalise on two early opportunities when they had the ball, but they went ahead on six minutes when Mossop was stopped just short and Marwood, using his experience at hooker, dived over for a try which Jamie Dallimore converted.

It was Mossop and Marwood combining again for Raiders’ second midway through the half, with the former making a break and drawing in the defence then passing to the latter for him to finish under the posts for a converted score following some excellent support running.

Callum Mulkeen did breach the Barrow defence on 28 minutes after a spell of pressure from the visitors, taking a pass and powering through a gap from 20 metres to score, only for Tommy Johnson to miss the conversion.

But Raiders’ 12-point lead was restored two minutes before half-time, when Brad Brennan made a trademark powerful run and Abram scooted over from the play-the-ball after the prop was tackled.

The second half proved more of a slow-burner as handling errors started to creep in for both teams and it was not until the 65th minute that more points were put on the board when Dallimore booted over a penalty from 40 metres out following a high tackle.

But two tries in the space of two minutes put the seal on the win for the hosts, with the first coming when the North Wales defence was stretched by Barrow quickly moving the ball along the line, concluding with Marwood sending Declan Hulme crashing through for his 13th try of the year on 74 minutes.

And they saved the best until last as some superb interplay between Eze Harper and Ryan Fieldhouse led to Dan Toal powering in for an unconverted try in the corner, putting some gloss on a highly effective performance.

Barrow Raiders: Ryan Fieldhouse; Shane Toal, Declan Hulme, Eze Harper, Luke Cresswell; Jamie Dallimore, Brad Marwood; Joe Bullock, Nathan Mossop, Tom Walker, Dan Toal, Jarrad Stack, Martin Aspinwall. Interchange: Dan Abram, James Duerden, Ollie Wilkes, Brad Brennan.

North Wales Crusaders: Tommy Johnson; Corey Lee, Callum Mulkeen, Earl Hurst, Dale Price; Andy Moulsdale, Ryan Smith; Jonny Walker, James Dandy, Kenny Baker, Jack Houghton, Simon Atherton, Luke Warburton. Interchange: Aaron Moore, Warren Thompson, Blake Turner, Joseph Bate.

Referee: Brandon Robinson.