BARROW Raiders’ Paul Crarey has praised his squad following their big win in the Betfred Championships.

The head coach said the team created their ‘own piece of history’ after securing a 23-22 victory over Bradford Bulls in the Championship.

Having reached 22-4 by the midway point in the second half, Raiders were hit back by the hosts at Odsal.

Jarrod Sammut haunted his former club with a late drop-goal. 

Victory was even more impressive considering the absence of several first team regulars, including in-form winger Tee Ritson, half-back Ryan Johnston, and powerful forward Anton Iaria.

This most recent victory has moved the Raiders up to third in the table.

Crarey praised the efforts of his team as they returned to winning ways following a run of three matches without victory.

He said: “It was a rollercoaster ride for my heart, I’ll tell you that.

“We haven’t won here since 1963, so we’ve created our own piece of history today.

“It shows the depth of our squad, the commitment of the players coming in. 

“We just ground it out; something that we haven’t done over the past couple of games.

“We took our chances too. It was harum-scarum stuff at the end when Mossy [Nathan Mossop] got sin binned. Carl Forster did a massive 72 minutes.

“It was like the tide coming in at the end, but we dug deep.”

Bradford have won four of six matches in 2022 prior to the Raiders’ visit to Odsal. 

Crarey admits he was pleased with how his side dealt with the magnitude of the occasion and snatched victory in the closing stages.

“We managed a massive win against an in-form team,” he said. 

“In the history of the game, it’s a very difficult place to come, but we’ve created our own piece of history today as a team.”