Paul Crarey has urged his Barrow Raiders players to rediscover their winning formula after they dropped their first point of 2022 at home to London Broncos.
A late Broncos comeback saw the Raiders slip to an draw 18-18 at the Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium, although the result means the club remain unbeaten in the Betfred Championship with five games of the season played.
The Raiders had led the Broncos heading into the final 15 minutes of Sunday’s game, but Crarey accepts that his side didn’t do enough overall to deserve the win.
“I thought that in the first half we were a bit loose, a bit frantic,” he admitted post-match.
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“I spoke to the lads at half-time about being patient and efficient. 53% completion in the first half, eight errors and five penalties is nowhere near good enough at this level.
“And in the last 10 minutes, I don’t think we managed the game well enough to win it.”
Sunday’s result still leaves the Raiders second in the table, two points behind league leaders Featherstone Rovers with a game in hand.
Despite the disappointment of a dramatic late draw on home soil, Crarey was keen to emphasise the impressive nature of his side’s return to the second tier, while also paying tribute to London’s performance on the day.
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He said: “If you’d said to me that we’d be second in the table after two months of the season, I would’ve bitten your hand off!
“We need to get back to what was getting us good, clean results. We don’t want to get into a dogfight.
“I thought that London came with a lot of effort. They’ve been like that for the last few weeks, knocking at the door of victory.
“Getting a draw against a team that are unbeaten is probably a great result for them. But for us, it’s a wake-up call that we need to get back to what we do best.”
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