Barrow Raiders head coach Paul Crarey has praised the performance of his players after they edged a hard-fought battle with Keighley Cougars in Round 14 of the Betfred Championship.
The Raiders left it late to clinch the competition points, with half-back Jarrod Sammut coming up with the match-winning play as the Raiders gave their survival hopes a major boost with an 18-16 victory at the Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium.
Speaking post-match, Crarey paid tribute to the way his players dealt with Keighley’s qualities and held their nerve.
SIGN UP: Raiders Goldrush Lottery
“They’re a good side, they play and they’ve got big, powerful middles,” he said.
“We pushed the ball a litle bit in the first half. In the first 20 minutes we were well in control, then an offload on play one got us in trouble and they scored off the back of it. Two minutes later, they’re scoring again.
“We talked about composure at half-time, building some pressure. I said to them, ‘we’ve got the best kicker in the league, all we need is one chance and Shawy [Ryan Shaw] will get the winning goal’.
“That’s what it’s like in the Championship. Sometimes you win by two, sometimes you lose by two. [The win] takes us out of the bottom two – there are a lot of us in the mix at the bottom end of the table, but if we get a win again next week, it pushes us up a little bit more.
TICKETS: Summer Dance Party
“What I can say about my team is I’m full of pride. We’re doing it tough at the moment, but we’ve got to keep going.”
Crarey also revealed that Greg Worthington, Shane Toal and Nathan Mossop played through the pain barrier on Sunday, despite carrying knocks and niggles.
Forward Jack Wells is also expected to be sidelined for the next 10 weeks with an arm injury.
Get kitted out in the latest Raiders merchandise by visiting our club shop!