‘NEVER give up until the final whistle.’

That slogan must be embossed on the Raiders' changing room door as Barrow once again came good against a solid Championship outfit in Batley Bulldogs.

Three minutes to go and 18-14 down Barrow applied maximum pressure to the Bulldogs' line but just couldn’t break through until rising star Ryan Johnston jinked his way over for a try near to the sticks to send the crowd into raptures. Jamie Dallimore added the conversion and it was 20-18 with a minute left.

But Barrow don’t do easy and Batley restarted with a short kick off looking to get possession back. Raiders held on for five tackles before Dallimore kicked the ball in the touch on the full, ensuring 20 more seconds of trauma in the sweltering conditions.

It was the slugfest predicted and there wasn’t much between the two teams and the result could have gone either way, but that never-say-die attitude put another two precious points in the survival bag and we march on.

Bulldogs assistant coach Danny Maun admitted they were left stunned at the manner of defeat and head coach Matt Diskin was fuming at the end and has intensified training this week to focus on this week’s home game against Rochdale Hornets.

Rochdale won at Dewsbury last week 32-27, but I can’t see them beating Batley on the Mount Pleasant slope.

Dewsbury come to Craven Park tomorrow in the rearranged game from a few weeks ago when the pitch was deemed too hard.

After a promising start to the season Dewsbury have lost a bit of form and it was their eighth defeat in a row last Sunday.

Their star half-back Gareth Moore looked to have handed Dewsbury victory, on his 200th career appearance, when his 76th minute drop-goal edged them 27-26 ahead, only for Rochdale to grab a last-gasp try to seal only their second win of the season.

Dewsbury Rams head coach Neil Kelly wasn’t a happy man, saying: “I am concerned about the nature of our performance and think some of the players lack a bit of basic motivation which a coach should be able to take for granted when preparing a side.

“We have had a chat in the dressing room and people can tell you one thing and then do another. I’ve never wanted to be one of those people, but I’m worried now that some of my players are those types of people.”

So some pretty harsh criticism and a lot of soul-searching going on at Dewsbury, but they are still a good side and have ex-Raiders players Dom Speakman and Michael Knowles in their ranks.

Dom struggled to make an impact at Barrow but Michael was key to winning the Championship nine years ago with his tough no-nonsense style.

So tomorrow is definitely another winnable game but I am sure that Cresta isn’t getting too carried away and knows that everyone has to be on form to take the precious two points.

He knows there is still plenty to work on, particularly the last-tackle option which was the main issue last week as we were either caught in possession and handed over, or didn’t put the opposition under pressure enough so we could regain possession from a goal-line drop-out.

Joe Bullock was superb and his solo try from the halfway line must be in the running for try of the season.

The only problem is his performances are attracting the likes of Wigan, but that is inevitable when clubs like Barrow find a gem.

Hopefully Joe will stay, but should the call be too good to turn down let’s hope he is here at least to the end of the season. We need him!

Victory tomorrow sets us up nicely for Swinton next week.

See you tomorrow!