Barrow Raiders head coach Paul Crarey admits he is proud of the way his players dug in to win a closely-fought battle against Widnes Vikings in Round 15 of the Betfred Championship.
Leading 18-0 at the break, the Raiders were forced to show their defensive steel at times in the second half as the Vikings mounted a fightback.
The scoreline read 20-18 heading into the final quarter, but Paul Crarey’s side took control of the final 10 minutes and made sure of the competition points with the final play of the game when Shane Toal raced away to touch down.
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Reflecting on his side’s overall performance, Crarey said: “18-0 up, [we put in] a really positive performance in that first half.
“We dropped two sets out of 20 and played some really good stuff.
“We played through the middle, like we said we would, and scored some really nice tries.
“In the second half, they had a fluky try where it bobbled and their player caught it in open space, then they broke us on a shift play and it was all hands to the pump [from that point].
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“We just had to grind that win and take control of the game, and we did that.
“I thought that in the last 10 minutes, we were tenacious. We battled for everything, kicked the ball and chased well. Our middles were outstanding.
“I’m very proud of the performance. They wanted a reaction from the Whitehaven game and John [Kear, Widnes Vikings head coach] got one, but we just had enough to hold out for that win against a very high-quality team.”
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