Barrow Raiders head coach Paul Crarey was left to rue a tough day at the office as Barrow Raiders fell to a 64-6 defeat at Featherstone Rovers.
The Betfred Championship leaders proved to be too good on the day as they ran in a total of 11 tries to record their 13th straight league win of the season.
Defeat came at a cost for the Raiders too, as head coach Crarey explained post-match.
“We lost Rio [Corkill] after 10 minutes with suspected ligament [damage] or a fracture to his ankle, and them we lost Brooksy [Sam Brooks]. He had spasms in his spine and the HIA ruled him out,” Crarey said.
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“We had two rotations, one was a hooker and one was a middle, so it was going to be tough after that.
“We spoke at half-time about not having a blow-out, but the big fatigue factor set in and they even scored tries on the final whistle.
“It wasn’t through lack of effort, we just didn’t manage the game well enough in the second half to stay with them.”
Attention quickly switches to a huge clash next weekend, with Keighley Cougars visiting the Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
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The fixture, which will also be a celebration of inclusivity and diversity, is part of a double-header which also sees Barrow Raiders Ladies face Castleford Tigers Women earlier in the day.
Crarey emphasised the importance of upcoming fixtures as the Raiders look to move clear of relegation trouble during the second half of the season.
“[It was] a tough day at the office, but we’re not the only team that these have beaten comfortably,” he admitted.
“We’ll get some bodies back for next week – we’ve got Keighley at home and then Widnes, and we need the Barrow faithful to get behind us because they’re big, big games now.”
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