Barrow Raiders head coach Paul Crarey says he is delighted with the way his players controlled Monday night’s 23-22 victory at Whitehaven.
Down on numbers and forced to play centre Greg Worthington in the front row on his landmark 250th career appearance, the Raiders defied the odds to clinch two much-needed Betfred Championship competition points in the club’s battle to avoid relegation.
The winning moment came in the dying seconds as Ryan Johnston sank a drop-goal through the middle of the posts, having failed in his first attempt at a one-pointer minutes earlier.
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Speaking post-match, Crarey said: “I thought we were outstanding, we controlled the game.
“It was only in the last minutes of the first half that we lost control of the game because we were over-anxious in the tackle, fourth play. We gave field position and they scored off that to give them a 14-10 lead.
“I watched them [Whitehaven] going in. They were kissing the badge, waving to the fans and getting them excited.
“I walked into our fellas and said, ‘you kiss the badge at 80 minutes, you don’t do it at 40. We’re in control of this game’.
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“We were absolutely outstanding. Adam Jackson and Ryan Johnston controlled the game and never went away from what we were trying to do.
“It was a great result, to come here against all odds, with all the players we’ve got out at the moment, and get a fantastic win which takes us up to 11th in the table.
“We’re a point behind [Whitehaven] with all still to play for.”
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