Sheffield Eagles 44 Barrow Raiders 18
The inevitable will surely be confirmed at Toronto in two weeks' time for Barrow Raiders, as they went down to a heavy defeat against Sheffield Eagles that leaves them hovering over the relegation trap door.
Widnes’ defeat at Leigh gave them a stay of execution, but given they won’t have all of their injury-hit squad available for the trip to Canada, it’s now asking for something slightly more than a miracle against the Championship’s runaway leaders.
For the most part, this was a gutsy performance from the Raiders against an Eagles side preparing for a trip to Wembley for next week’s 1895 Cup final.
When Jono Smith put them in front early in the second half, you wondered if the hosts had one eye on that, but they dominated the final 25 minutes by running in 28 unanswered points to crush Barrow’s faint hopes.
It took Sheffield just two minutes to open the scoring, as PNG veteran Menzie Yere supplied the pass that put Ryan Millar in at the corner for an unconverted try.
Two quick scores either side of the 20-minute mark put the Eagles seemingly firmly in charge, as Millar charged in from 60 metres for his second before Aaron Brown had an easy finish off Brad Knowles' off-load for 16-0.
Barrow soon got themselves on the board, though, when Tom Walker managed to bundle his way over from close range, with Jamie Dallimore adding the goal.
The Raiders were then gifted a route back into the game five minutes before half-time when Josh Gudzek threw a shocker of a pass that Dean Cross intercepted to go in under the posts.
Dallimore's conversion reduced the gap to four points at half-time, but the match was turned on its head two minutes after the restart when Smith managed to force his way over. Dallimore added the goal and the turnaround was complete as Barrow led 18-16 and they were given a further boost when the Eagles’ Knowles was sin binned for a dangerous tackle.
But a big chance came and went when Cross knocked on just when it looked like he was about to break through a tackle and go clear. That proved costly as Sheffield retook the lead in the 56th minute when James Meadows moved the ball out to Guzdek, who crashed through to score a try he converted himself.
The Raiders then let in a soft score as the Eagles went ten points in front when they bought a dummy sold by Corey Makelim off the last tackle and the USA international snuck through.
The afternoon was now getting away from Barrow and they conceded again with Ryan Duffy down injured when Yere was sent clear to score near the posts.
The Eagles then reached the 40-point mark when Makelim managed to force his way over for his second before Raiders finished the game with 12 men, as Danny Morrow was sent to the sin bin for dissent.
There was still time for Yere to round off his final home game for Sheffield in style by going through some tired tackling off the final play.
Sheffield Eagles: Guzdek, Millar, Yere, Ogden, Blackmore, Walker, Thackeray, Pick, Burns, Knowles, Esslemont, Farrell, Brown.
Interchange: Makelim, Dixon, Meadows, Hellewell.
Tries: Millar 2, 20, Brown 23, Gudzek 56, Makelim 59, 72, Yere 67, 80
Goals: Walker (5), Gudzek
Barrow Raiders: Cresswell, Cross, Hulme, Stack, Loxam, Dallimore, White, Walker, Puara, Duffy, Smith, Morrow, Susino.
Interchange: Johnston, D Toal, Riley, Seguier.
Tries: Walker 26, Cross 35, Smith 42
Goals: Dallimore (3)
Referee: Gareth Hewer
Attendance: 677
Raiders star man: Jono Smith
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