It was a Jekyll and Hyde performance by Barrow Raiders in the 1895 Cup against the youngest Bradford Bulls side ever to take the field with an average age of just 20, writes Tony Colyer.

The first half was a very frustrating watch for the supporters with a multitude of errors providing the Bulls with plenty of possession and a 6-4 half time lead, with a single try from each side.

There must have been some harsh words at half-time from Paul Crarey as the second half couldn’t have been more different with a fabulous attacking display from the Raiders producing a further eight tries.

The young Bulls just couldn’t cope with the Raiders power and speed, eventually losing 50-6.

It was Barrow’s best attacking performance for some time with many ‘champagne moments’ and despite the inexperience of the opposition you can only play what is put in front you.

Bradford’s head coach John Kear rested every player who was involved in last Sunday’s Challenge Cup defeat by Halifax and took the opportunity to field a second-string side made up of fringe players and academy youngsters with ten debutants and he stated he was very proud of their efforts despite the defeat.

After Wednesday's victory, we now play Leigh Centurions away in the quarter finals of a competition that culminates at Wembley Stadium on the day of the Challenge Cup final.

A big negative is that the tie is due to be played on a Wednesday night, sandwiched between Championship fixtures against Featherstone away and Toulouse at home.

For play-off chasing Leigh, the game comes between trips to Dewsbury away and Sheffield Eagles, so it will be interesting to see how the coaches approach the tie in terms of squad selection.

The league is much more important to both clubs so planning the tie midweek is not the best decision made by the RFL.

The Bulls encounter was a nice distraction from our Championship survival battle, and we must now build on the confidence gained to focus back on the task tomorrow with a visit to Widnes Vikings.

Widnes are only one point ahead of Barrow in the Championship table, but this is a false position as they have had to claw back a 12-point deduction due to entering administration and have actually won nine from 15 games.

On Wednesday, they beat Featherstone Rovers 22-16 in the 1895 Cup. This followed an impressive win against Sheffield Eagles last weekend, 36-6, but they are not invincible as York City Knights won 16-10 at the Halton Stadium the week before.

Widnes are still unable to recruit due to their financial situation but have plenty of talent in particular with Danny Craven and Cumbrian Jordan Johnstone pulling the strings and ex-Wigan superstar Anthony Gelling, who could be back from a long-term injury tomorrow.

With only 12 games left, every performance counts as we try to catch Swinton or Dewsbury. Swinton have two difficult games up next with the visit of Toronto tomorrow and a trip to France to play Toulouse next week, so I can’t see any joy there.

Dewsbury are at home to Rochdale tomorrow and should win that, therefore leapfrogging Swinton, but next week they travel to Toronto where a victory is unlikely.

Based on those predictions Swinton are probably the main target on eight points, which means that we must win at Swinton next month and get at least another victory somewhere. Rochdale play Swinton again at home on June 30, so we would welcome a Rochdale victory.

Barrow have a very difficult month of June to overcome with Halifax at home next week, Featherstone away the following week, Leigh away in the 1895 Cup midweek and then Toulouse at home.

Let’s take one game at a time starting with a victory on the artificial surface against the Vikings tomorrow.