WHEN head coach Paul Crarey talks about Barrow Raiders “doing it tough” in Kingstone Press League One this year, he might well point to this game as a future example of that.

Travelling to Doncaster is always an onerous prospect in itself, even more so when it is against a side who are full of confidence after winning their previous three matches under their new management team.

Throw in having to play them on the tighter and sparser confines of the athletics facility at the Lakeside complex due to the Keepmoat Stadium pitch being reseeded, along with a howling wind blowing across the field for the entire game and you start to get an idea of what he means.

Not only that, but the game itself saw Danny Morrow forced off in the first half with a suspected bicep tear, Dan Toal suffer a concussion and Lewis Charnock have to sit out a large part of the second half due to being hit late off the ball.

Given all of those factors, it is perhaps indicative of the strength of character in this Raiders side that they still looked like securing what was increasingly seeming like a victory against the odds right up until the final hooter when Jack Miller slotted over a penalty to earn Doncaster a share of the spoils in a 24-24 draw.

Even then, the away side were left feeling James Duerden was hard-done-by to be penalised for a ruck infringement 30 metres out in front of the posts, while they were also left scratching their heads when a Charnock conversion was not given after striking the posts, feeling it had gone over.

How crucial those two points may have been. Nevertheless, Doncaster deserve plenty of credit too and under the caretaker management team of Pete Green – still lining up at loose forward in his 40s – and Rhys Lovegrove, they are playing the sort of rugby which saw exactly why they started the season as joint-second favourites for promotion along with Barrow.

Papua New Guinea international Jason Tali was their talisman on the day, scoring two tries and proving a handful for a tiring Barrow defence with his relentless powerful carries.

And yet, it had all looked so good for the Raiders after just three minutes when the prolific Luke Cresswell continued his impressive 2017 campaign by opening the scoring with an unconverted try after Jamie Dallimore had flicked a pass out wide to him from an Eze Harper kick.

The forwards had laid the foundation for that try with some superb breaks on the small pitch which was always going to lend itself to direct rugby and Jarrad Stack did the same from a tap penalty three minutes later, with Dallimore scoring and Charnock converting after Harper had been held up just short.

Doncaster's first real spell of pressure led to them hitting back on 12 minutes, with recent signing Nick Rawsthorne offloading for Zac Braham to power through for a try which was converted by Miller.

But having forced a repeat set from a drop-out, Barrow got their third try when Declan Hulme squared up and stampeded through a huge gap in the Doncaster defence to score, only for Charnock's conversion to hit the posts and be adjudged not over.

A penalty from Charnock made it 16-6 to the Raiders at half time and Dallimore slotted one over seven minutes after the restart when Charnock was tackled off the ball. However, Dallimore conceding a penalty for a high tackle led to Tali scoring his first try and Miller converting on 52 minutes.

A trademark lung-busting carry from Bullock saw him set up support runner Harper for a try which Dallimore converted, but Doncaster rallied and Barrow's stoic defence was eventually breached when Tali set up Jordie Hughes for a converted score to narrow the gap to six points.

A missed drop-goal attempt from Dallimore followed, yet it looked like Doncaster may have missed the chance to get anything from the game when Miller could not convert Tali's second try two minutes from time. However, the stand-off made no mistake with the latest of late penalty kicks.

Doncaster: Louis Sheriff; Nick Rawsthorne, Liam Welham, Jason Tali, Sam Doherty; Reece Dean, Jack Miller, Zac Braham, Kris Kesik, Russ Spiers, Charlie Martin, Brad England, Pete Green. Interchange: Makali Aizue, Jordie Hedges, Ryan Wright, Jamie Thackray.

Barrow Raiders: Ryan Fieldhouse 7; Luke Cresswell 7, Declan Hulme 8, Eze Harper 7, Brett Carter 7; Jamie Dallimore 7, Lewis Charnock 7; Joe Bullock 9, Nathan Mossop 7, Tom Walker 7, Danny Morrow 7, Jarrad Stack 7, Martin Aspinwall 8. Interchange: Karl Ashall 7, Dan Toal 7, James Duerden 7, Andrew Dawson 8.

Referee: Steve Race.

Playback: 3 – Cresswell try (0-4); 6 – Dallimore try, Charnock con (0-10); 12 – Braham try, Miller con (6-10); 23 – Hulme try (6-14); 40 – Charnock pen (6-16); 47 – Dallimore pen (6-18); 52 – Tali try, Miller con (12-18); 61 – Harper try, Dallimore con (12-24); 66 – Hughes try, Miller con (18-24); 77 – Tali try (22-24); 80 – Miller pen (24-24).

Raiders star man: Joe Bullock: The prop epitomised the battling spirit shown by Barrow in this match, never taking a backwards step in either attack or defence with a typically all-action display.