SHANE Toal is more than happy to put team success before personal glory after his two tries helped Barrow Raiders clinch victory in the Kingstone Press League One play-off final.

Two unconverted tries from the winger proved crucial for the Raiders as they edged out Whitehaven 10-6 at Craven Park to earn a place in the Championship for 2018.

It capped a memorable year for Toal, who finished as Barrow's top try-scorer with 24, but the Ulverstonian was more concerned with the team winning promotion and testing themselves at the next level.

"I was more happy for the team and I don't really focus on personal accolades," said Toal.

"They come with the performance when the lads are playing well, and people put it on a plate for me every week and I'm just showing up for them. If they keep showing up for me then we go well.

"I'm really looking forward to the Championship. I'm looking forward to having a bit of time off, celebrating with the fans and the lads, then looking to hit pre-season and go hard again.

"We want to see how we can go and there are some really great players to test ourselves against in the league above."

Toal rated the play-off final as the toughest encounter Barrow had faced all year, which was perhaps unsurprising given the two previous League One matches with Whitehaven had been hard-fought as well.

Indeed, there were times when the Raiders were pinned on their own line, but were able to hold their nerve in the face of some intense pressure from Haven.

Toal put that down to the approach from the Barrow squad, which had been to treat it like any other game despite the clash having the added factors of it being a promotion decider and a Cumbrian derby, which saw over 3,000 fans descend oon Craven Park.

"All of the boys got together and said 'we've done it all year, it's no different to any other game," said Toal. "We knew they were going to come down and give it a great shot.

"It could have gone either way and in the second half, there was a period where we were on their line, they were on our line and we were both struggling to get over, and we just managed to get there in the end.

"But I'm buzzing for me, I'm buzzing for the lads and I'm buzzing for the fans as well. There were load in and it was cracking, and I hope some of the fans who came down can come and support us against next year."