Barrow Raiders may not have been able to come away from Featherstone Rovers with another shock victory last Saturday, but head coach Paul Crarey was proud of the effort from players and supporters alike.

In tough conditions, the Raiders were backed by a very vocal travelling contingent at Post Office Road and they saw their team come close to pulling off the shock of the fourth round in the Coral Challenge Cup.

It says a lot about Barrow's performance against the Betfred Championship side that there was disappointment at the 18-16 loss at the final whistle at a side who had won both of their league games going into the tie.

Crarey said: "The fans were brilliant, shouting and screaming for us and they clapped us at the end. They were brilliant for us and they appreciated the effort we put in.

"We probably didn't have as strong a side as last year, when we came here and won, but we came here with a purpose and everybody put their hands to the wheel and I thought it was a magnificent performance."

Crarey was, however, unhappy with the penalty given against his side in Barrow old boy Dean Parata's favour that led to Featherstone scoring their winning try.

He said: "We got our hands not on the ball but on his arms and the referee gave a penalty, but for me it wasn't a penalty and it was a real turning point because there were only three minutes to go."