Barrow Raiders forward Anton Iaria believes the club’s impressive victory at the Betfred Championship Summer Bash is a step in the right direction.
The Raiders produced a fine display ay York’s LNER Community Stadium to run out 32-16 winners against Whitehaven, and in doing so atoned for the narrow defeat they suffered against their fierce Cumbrian rivals at the Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium earlier in the campaign.
Iaria, who capped off their victory at the Bash with a late try, says the club can look to build on the positives of their Round 12 performance.
“It was a really pleasing result, from a game we were really targeting coming into the fixture,” he said.
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“The Summer Bash is always a special occasion and we played some really good rugby on the day.
“There are still areas to improve, but confidence has always been high within the squad and it was a good feeling getting back to winning ways.
“Considering how the last meeting with Whitehaven went earlier in the year, it was nice to make amends and put our best foot forward.”
Iaria has praised the impact of head coach Paul Crarey, who showed complete faith in the quality of his players despite their struggles in the early weeks of the season.
“We like to play a positive brand of rugby and really try to hurt teams out wide. Cresta and the coaches give us the freedom and confidence in ourselves to do that,” the Italy international added.
“There were still some dropped balls and other minor errors which we need to brush up on going into the next game, but it [the win against Whitehaven] was a real step in the right direction.
“We’re starting to see more signs of the team we were last season, so hopefully that’ll continue ahead of this next block of fixtures.”
The challenges keep coming as the Raiders prepare to visit runaway league leaders Featherstone Rovers on Sunday afternoon.
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Sean Long’s Rovers side will go in search of their 13th straight Championship win, and Iaria knows his squad will be up against it at the Millennium Stadium.
“They’re the biggest, fittest, fastest and strongest team in the competition, so we know it’ll be a huge challenge,” he said.
“Anything can happen in the Championship, and it’s all about who turns up on the day with the best attitude and executes their game plan.
“We’re going into the game as big underdogs, but the boys will go out there, put our best foot forward and see what happens.”
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