Barrow Raiders winger Shane Toal expressed his delight after scoring a hat-trick on his return to the side yesterday.

The flying outside back has missed the entirety of the 2022 season so far after suffering a warm-up injury ahead of the Raiders’ opening pre-season friendly against Workington Town last month. 

However, he returned to the fold with a three-try display at the Crown Oil Arena as the Raiders booked their place in Round 5 of the Betfred Challenge Cup with a 38-12 victory away at League 1 side Rochdale Hornets.

It has been confirmed that the Raiders will be ball number one for tonight’s draw for the next round. Full details are available here.

Speaking after the match, Toal admitted that stepping back out onto the field for competitive action had felt like a long time coming. 

LATEST NEWS: Challenge Cup final tickets on sale

“I’ve been looking forward to it,” he said. “It’s been about five or six months since I played. 

“I was a bit gutted when I got injured warming up for our first pre-season friendly. 

“It kind of felt like I’d done pre-season for nothing, but it was good to get out there today and I’m looking forward to the next game now.”

Fellow winger Tee Ritson also crossed twice against the Hornets as he continued his fine start to 2022.

Last season’s League 1 top try-scorer admits that conditions under-foot at the Crown Oil benefitted his team’s style of play.

Ritson said: “I keep saying it, but I can’t wait for summer to come! 

“Today was a prime example. A nice bit of weather and a good track for us to run on. 

“It was a bit of a weird game. I didn’t really get as much involvement as I would’ve liked, but we got the job done.”

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