Barrow Raiders head coach Paul Crarey admits Monday’s hard-fought win at Bradford Bulls is a major boost in their fight to secure Betfred Championship rugby for another season.
A try and five goals from Ryan Shaw proved to be the difference, in difficult conditions on a sodden Odsal pitch.
The Bulls threatened a late comeback but were unable to get the better of the Raiders, who took both competition points back to Cumbria thanks to a determined 14-10 victory.
“I thought we were quietly confident today. I spoke to Danny Langtree before we went out and said ‘I’ve got a nice feeling about tonight,” Crarey revealed post-match.
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“We worked hard, the team run was brilliant on Friday. I gave them Saturday off, they came back in on Sunday refreshed, and I think they absolutely worked their pan out as a group.
“We left a couple of tries out there at the first half – Adam [Jackson] put the ball down with the line at his mercy and Bully [Andrew Bulman] tried to ground the ball on the catch instead of going to the floor.
“To get the win here, after all the adversity and injuries that we’ve had, was absolutely outstanding.
“I’m so pleased for the fans that came as well. They were shouted their heads off over on the right side, I’m so proud of them.
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“Adam Jackson made his debut and had a great game, he kicked the ball really well. Both halves controlled the game.
“To get those two points at this stage of the season, with what’s going on around us, puts us in a great position to pick up a couple more wins towards the end of the season which would see us safe.”
The only sour point of the night came on the injury front, with Danny Langtree expected to miss the next four weeks after being taken off late in the second half.
Crarey revealed that Langtree suffered a dislocated shoulder, meaning he will be unavailable for a large chunk of the Raiders’ remaining Championship fixtures.
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