ANOTHER two points towards survival in the back bag!

It was a tough, hard-fought victory against a lively, young Rochdale Hornets outfit who were still in the game on the hour mark, but Barrow just had the edge and the extra class and ran out eventual winners 20-6 at Craven Park last Sunday.

It was a much-improved performance from the Blackpool defeat against Sheffield Eagles and every Barrow player put in a shift, and the discipline was first class (for a change!).

A special mention to Ryan Fieldhouse, who had his best game of the season, and also pocket rocket Jono Smith, who had another outstanding game against his old club.

I thought Rochdale were very impressive going forward and Barrow had to defend with the same commitment they showed against earlier encounters with the likes of Toronto Wolfpack to keep them out.

Swinton Lions surprisingly won at Sheffield and now join the Hornets at the bottom of the table on six points, seven behind Barrow. That means one of those two have to win four more games than Barrow in the last 14 matches.

It's possible, but not very likely so we are in a good place at the moment and, as all down the club realise, we must continue to compete in every game and get to safety as soon as possible.

I’m sure Rochdale will beat a few other clubs and Alan Kilshaw, the head coach of Rochdale, was left frustrated following Hornets defeat.

He said: “We killed ourselves and, to be honest, I’m quite angry with what we served up. Barrow’s game management was by far superior to ours, and they kicked much better and they showed they are in the position they are for a reason”.

Tomorrow is the first of two difficult away games; Featherstone Rovers and then, next week, our annual trip to Canada to play top of the league Toronto Wolfpack.

High-flyers Featherstone Rovers are aiming for the top four and a Qualifers play-off spot. However, this could be the last season for that structure as new Super League chief executive Robert Elstone said this week, following a meeting with all Super League clubs, that next season is going to be one up and one down.

Featherstone’s chairman Mark Campbell was not a happy man slamming the scrapping of the Super Eights system and said: “Less than one month ago, it was agreed no future plans would be discussed publicly until a solution was found for all concerned.

“So, as you can imagine, it was a huge shock to be informed that a press conference had in fact taken place. Where is the RFL in all of this? It appears their so-called figureheads are all on holiday”

In a rallying cry he went onto say: “The sport of rugby league, now more than ever before, needs its clubs and fans to rise and voice their opinions.

“This is quite possibly the most pivotal period in rugby league’s history and it would be an out-and-out disgrace for three or four chair-people to be able to take the sport apart.”

Featherstone obviously feel that the current structure is their best chance of promotion and a change will reduce their chances significantly.

As for Barrow, with the possibility of playing Hull Kingston Rover, Widnes Vikings and Bradford Bulls next season we must avoid relegation to League One and stay in this division.

So tomorrow will be a challenge as we seek our first victory on the road, but all the pressure is on Rovers. We are massive underdogs, so let’s go with a positive nothing to lose attitude and you never know what might happen.

The squad has been bolstered with the signing of class winger Jonny Pownall from Toronto who I’m sure will add another dimension to the back division. With the injury list growing by the week we could probably do with a couple of more players to enhance the chances of survival.