Barrow Raiders withstood a second half fightback to beat Widnes Vikings 26-18 at the Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium in Round 15 of the Betfred Championship.
The Raiders raced into an 18-0 half-time lead as they went in search of a third successive home win, with Anton Iaria powering over for a rare double, either side of Charlie Emslie’s try from a cute Jarrod Sammut kick through the defensive line.
Widnes came out fighting in the second half with back-to-back tries from Sam Wilde and Joe Lyons, but the boot of Ryan Shaw extended the Raiders’ lead to eight.
A close-range Aaron Brown try for the visitors set up a nervy finish, but Shane Toal would come up with the most telling of contributions in the final seconds as he picked up a loose ball and raced clear from near halfway to seal a hard-fought win.
Paul Crarey’s side will look to take their momentum into next Sunday’s trip to Halifax Panthers.
Ticket information for that match will be confirmed in due course.
BARROW RAIDERS 26
Tries: Iaria 2, Emslie, Toal
Goals: Shaw
WIDNES VIKINGS 18
Tries: Wilde, Lyons, Brown
Goals: Gilmore 3
Post-match reaction
Head coach Paul Crarey reacts to Sunday’s hard-fought win.
Man of the Match
Eighty Eighty Ten Productions selected Ellis Gillam as yesterday’s Man of the Match!
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