HAD this been a Super League game, fans at Craven Park yesterday would have undoubtedly been treated to as many as an extra 10 minutes of both teams launching drop-goal attempts in a bid to break the deadlock.

But as this is the Betfred Championship, where a draw is quite rightly still considered an acceptable outcome after 80 minutes of hard-fought rugby league, the players of Barrow Raiders and Dewsbury Rams shook hands and turned to salute their respective groups of fans after the match finished 20-20.

Besides, the visitors in particular had been attempting to settle the outcome via drop kicks since 15 minutes to go after moving six points clear, with half-backs Paul Sykes and Simon Brown both seeing attempts go wide.

Then, after the Raiders had got back on level terms with five minutes left thanks to a converted try from Ryan Johnston, neither he or Lewis Charnock could get their efforts away properly either – followed by another Sykes miss.

A share of the spoils was no less than Barrow deserved, although they may again rue some unforced individual errors which meant they were unable to press home the four-point advantage they held at half time after coming flying out of the traps.

Most importantly, it was another point on the board and there were plenty of reasons for the Raiders to take confidence.

Jarrad Stack in particular came to the fore at centre in Tom Loxam’s absence and came up with two well-taken first-half tries which helped the home side establish a foothold.

Papua New Guinean wide-man Stargroth Amean came into his own too with some great breaks and was unlucky to have a second-half try chalked off for a forward pass.

It was one of those breaks which led to the Raiders opening the scoring after eight minutes, with Charnock sending Stack over out wide for a try the scrum-half converted with the aid of the post.

But a penalty allowed Dewsbury to hit back, with Kyle Trout bursting through the defence for the first of two tries, converted by Sykes, on 17 minutes.

Charnock’s kicking game caused problems for the Rams though and one led to Stack leaping up to snaffle possession for an unconverted score on 27 minutes.

The sides then exchanged penalties; Johnston kicking one after Charnock had been hit late and temporarily forced off, followed by Sykes pulling Dewsbury closer at the end of the first half.

Charnock returned to put the Raiders six points clear with another two minutes after the restart, but then it began to unravel as Trout and then Sykes crashed over for converted tries

However, Barrow rallied and on 75 minutes, Johnston forced his way over from close range after Amean had been stopped just short, with Charnock’s conversion ensuring it ended level.

Barrow Raiders: Tee Ritson; Startgroth Amean, Jarrad Stack, Deon Cross, Jake Spedding; Ryan Johnston, Lewis Charnock; Tom Walker, Wartovo Puara Jr, Josh Johnson, Jono Smith, Jordan Walne, Martin Aspinwall. Interchange: Nathan Mossop, Glenn Riley, Bradd Crellin, Willie Minoga.

Dewsbury Rams: Luke Hooley; Rob Worrincy, Cameron Leeming, Adam Ryder, Dale Morton; Paul Sykes, Simon Brown; Tom Garratt, Sam Day, Lucas Walshaw, Daniel Igbinedion, Kyle Trout. Interchange: Robbie Ward, Mike Knowles, Tobias Richardson, Jordan Andrade.

Referee: Michael Mannifield.

Attendance: 1,321.

Playback: 8 – Stack try, Charnock conv (6-0); 17 – Trout try, Sykes conv (6-6); 27 – Stack try (10-6); 34 – Johnston pen (12-6); 40 – Sykes pen (12-8); 42 – Charnock pen (14-8); 53 – Trout try, Sykes conv (14-14); 62 – Sykes try and conv (14-20); 75 – Johnston try, Charnock conv (20-20).

Raiders star man: Jarrad Stack.