BARROW Raiders have made certain of a top-three finish in Kingstone Press League One after a hard-fought 26-18 victory at home to Keighley Cougars this afternoon.

A repeat set of six and a penalty for Keighley put the hosts under pressure early on, but they relieved that in the perfect way when Chris Hankinson stole the ball one-on-one from Ritchie Hawkyard and then sent Eze Harper away to race for the opening try from over 75 metres out.

Hankinson's conversion put Barrow six points up after just three minutes and he was on had to add the extras again on 21 minutes after the returning Liam Harrison powered through a gap in the defence to score from Jamie Dallimore's pass.

Inspirational half-back Dallimore was involved in the Raiders' third try nine minutes later, this time sending through Ryan Fieldhouse following some more good build-up play to open up the Keighley defence, with Hankinson converting for 18-0.

Keighley were not without chances of their own during the first 40 minutes, but a combination of strong defence from the home side and handling errors ensured they were unable to get on the scoreboard before the half-time hooter sounded.

The visitors' persistence was eventually rewarded eight minutes into the second half when Ritchie Hawkyard finished from close range, with Danny Lawton converting, but Barrow made it a three-score game again soon after when Hankinson kicked a penalty from in front of the posts.

Antony Pate put the seal on the win for the Raiders in the 67th minute, diving through a gap after Barrow had recovered from a dropped ball and stretched out the Cougars defence by working it along the line.

Hankinson made it five successful kicks at goal from five attempts with the conversion, although his copybook was slightly blotted in the closing stages when he missed a drop goal attempt from just under 20 metres out.

Two late defensive lapses allowed Will Milner and James Feather to score for Keighley, but they could not deny the Raiders.

Barrow Raiders: Ryan Fieldhouse; Eze Harper, Cameron Pitman, Max Wiper, Chris Fleming; Chris Hankinson, Jamie Dallimore; Joe Bullock, Karl Ashall, Oliver Wilkes, Liam Harrison, Andy Litherland, Martin Aspinwall. Interchange: Nathan Mossop, Andrew Dawson, Brad Brennan, Anthony Bate.

Keighley Cougars: Ritchie Hawkyard; Andy Gabriel, Danny Lawton, Rikki Sheriffe, Paul White; Adam Brook, Will Milner; Brendon Rawlins, James Feather, Matthew Bailey, Josh Lynam, Charlie Martin, Ash Lindsay. Interchange: Aaron Ollet, John Oakes, Jode Sheriffe, Ross Peltier.