LUKE Cresswell and Shane Toal earned praise from Paul Crarey for their contributions in helping Barrow Raiders progress to the quarter-finals of the League One Cup.

The wing duo were perhaps two of the unsung heroes in Saturday's 46-18 victory at Rochdale Mayfield, which was very much built on the way Barrow's pack imposed themselves on their amateur counterparts.

But former Barrow Island amateur Cresswell and Ulverstonian Toal played prominent roles too, with both scoring tries and the latter in particular producing some eye-catching work in defence.

Cresswell, meanwhile, was making only his second competitive start for the Raiders and head coach Crarey was delighted with the way he was happy to slot in out wide instead of in his usual position at full-back.

“I thought our two wingers were outstanding,” said Crarey. “With Chris Fleming injured and Brett Carter probably a week away, I asked Luke and I thought he did a great job.

“I thought Shane Toal was outstanding under the high ball; they peppered him and I don't know why they persevered with it because he pulled everything down.

“You're put under a different kind of pressure at amateur level to what you are at professional level. I was talking to Dalli (Jamie Dallimore) going off and he was saying he'd rather play against a structured defence any time, where you haven't got to watch yourself getting belted every time.

“We have a review panel at our level that look at things like that, but that's the game at this level – I know that because I've been there, coached it and done it.”

Barrow's reward for their win is a home quarter-final against Keighley Cougars on Sunday, April 2, although they will face a rematch with Mayfield this coming Sunday in the third round of the Challenge Cup – this time at Craven Park.

The rigours of the amateur game will have come as no surprise to the likes of Cresswell and Toal, who are among a notable contingent of the Barrow squad who have stepped up from that level in recent seasons.

Crarey, who started out playing for Dalton and later coached them, along with the BARLA national team, knows how tough National Conference League sides are as well, and is fully expecting Matt Calland's men to pose a similar challenge for the Raiders when they meet again this week.

“I came through the amateur and academy ranks myself, and I know when you're a kid playing open-age rugby that they don't care how old you are,” said Crarey. “You still get it and we knew Matt's side are physical and can play football.

“They had to stop us playing otherwise it would have been 60 or 70. At 30 points down, we knew their style was going to change and there were bodies flying in. They were trying to fix it up and sometimes when you're getting belted round the head, you don't fancy looking to pass the ball, you're looking for protection for yourself.

“It got a little bit like that and the pivots started to run a little bit more because they were under pressure with people having to go back onto the inside and looking up the middle, where they got belted again.

“We're just happy to go through; cup football is about getting the result to go through and you get some massive shocks, and we weren't going to be one of those.”