Barrow Raiders succumbed to a 28-22 defeat at home to Sheffield Eagles in Round 13 of the Betfred Championship.
The Raiders fell to their third consecutive loss after a resurgent Eagles outfit produced a solid display on the road to record their fourth win of the campaign.
Craig Lingard’s men ran in three unanswered tries within the first 30 minutes of the bout, before Andrew Bulman stemmed the flow with a try nine minutes from the interval.
It was a half characterised by unenforced errors from Paul Crarey’s side, and the Eagles had the final say in the opening 40 minutes when Castleford Tigers loanee Josh Hodson slotted a penalty conversion through the posts to send his side into the sheds with a 10-point advantage at 16-6.
A second-half response did not appear to be forthcoming, as Sheffield hit the Raiders with two back-to-back tries within the first 10 minutes, but it would prove to be the start of a fightback for the Cumbrians.
Bulman capitalised on a defensive error from the visitors to crash over in the corner on 53 minutes, before the winger similarly grabbed his hat-trick two minutes from time.
With a minute left on the clock, Luke Broadbent found himself on the end of Ryan Johnston’s chip through, evading multiple defenders to touch down next to the posts, but it was too little, too late for the Raiders, who came away empty-handed in Round 13.
Despite suffering their third straight defeat, the Raiders still occupy sixth place in the Championship table, and will now focus their efforts on their upcoming trip to basement side Hunslet on Sunday 22 June.
BARROW RAIDERS 22
Tries: Bulman 3, Broadbent
Goals: B.Walker 3
SHEFFIELD EAGLES 28
Tries: Billy, Johnson 2, Foster, Walker
Goals: Hodson 4
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