Barrow Raiders head coach Paul Crarey says he couldn’t fault the effort of his side after they fell to a 23-14 defeat at Widnes Vikings.
The Raiders took the lead at the DCBL Stadium with a Ryan Shaw penalty, but ultimately suffered their seventh defeat of the season on Sunday afternoon, despite tries from Luke Broadbent and Josh Wood.
Speaking post-match, Craven was quick to praise his side’s defensive effort, as well as the quality of the opposition.
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“I thought they [Widnes] were a good side – very clinical, very disciplined,” he said.
“I thought we were good, energised and we battled hard. The amount of possession Widnes had was unbelievable, but we repelled it time and time again.
“I just think the kicking game was the difference between the two sides. In the first half we opened them up three times and didn’t finish the breaks off when we had a great opportunity.”
After the game, Crarey was also pleased to see the acknowledgement of the travelling fans over the Raiders’ efforts and performance level, despite their narrow defeat.
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“I had a few fans shaking my hand about the effort the lads put in,” he added.
“You couldn’t question it today. [It was] just the small margins – not being clinical, and being trapped in our half and not being able to kick our way out of trouble.”
Sunday’s result leaves the Raiders 13th in the Betfred Championship, and they now have a few weeks off before taking on Bradford Bulls at the Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium on Sunday 7 May.
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