Barrow Raiders head coach Paul Crarey believes there are positives to take from Sunday’s 18-18 draw with Newcastle Thunder.
In a hard-fought match, Thunder came from behind three times to ensure they left with a point, despite the Raiders’ best efforts to earn their first victory of the season.
Speaking post-match, Crarey was left to reflect on a missed opportunity for his side.
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“I thought we played really well in that first 30 minutes and had good opportunities to put points on the board,” he said.
“Even on the first set, we had them and the ball ended up in the stands. And then the next time we put shift play on, Broady [Luke Broadbent], he carried the ball when he had men outside him, probably because the first ball did go into the stand.
“We had a great game. There’s some stuff we did that was very good, but some stuff we’re doing is really costing us.
“We threw the ball into touch on play one from the scrum, we kicked the ball on play two in the 20. That’s the stuff that’s getting us, and once we tidy that up, we’ll be good.
“We’ve scored 18 points today, but we conceded 18 and we invited Newcastle on when we scored.”
Crarey also provided an injury update following the fixture.
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“We’ve just got to keep chipping away at it. We’re losing bodies – we lost Jarrod Stack today and Luke Cresswell can’t play next week,” he revealed.
“But the fans stayed behind us, and in the last 5/10 minutes it was electric in the ground.
“It was intense and had everything, and we just couldn’t come out on the right side of the result.”
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