Report: Barrow Raiders 25-26 Doncaster

It was late heartbreak for Barrow Raiders on Wednesday night as Connor Robinson’s 78th minute penalty saw Doncaster claim a dramatic 26-25 win at the Speed Competitions Stadium.

Off the back of a two-day turnaround following Sunday’s bruising win at Halifax, the Raiders gave their all but fell just short in the rearranged Betfred Championship fixture.

The scoring was opened inside five minutes through Ryan Johnston, who knocked over a penalty to put the Raiders two points ahead.

A few minutes later, the Raiders bagged the evening’s opening try. Keeping the ball alive and shifting it left towards Luke Broadbent, he cut inside and darted through a gap before finding Luke Cresswell, who in-turn gave it to Josh Wood to score his first four-pointer of the season.

Doncaster didn’t take long to respond through Connor Jones, who cut inside from the left and spotted a gap to break through the defensive line to score.

Jones had his second midway through the half, receiving Edene Gebbie’s no-look pass inside to score.

The game turned back in Barrow’s favour soon after, Joe Bullock racing through the line after Alex Bishop’s smart pass left to touch down on his 300th career appearance and make it 14-12.

Another Johnston penalty made it 16-12 before half-time, then the half-back slotted over a one-pointer on the stroke of half-time to nudge the Raiders three points ahead.

The second half started positively for Doncaster, who re-took the lead when Muizz Mustapha dived over to the left of the posts.

But the Raiders response was swift and came via a familiar source in Ryan King, the powerful back-rower overpowering his man and stretching out to score his 15th try of the season.

The ‘you score, we score’ nature of the game continued as Gebbie picked up from dummy-half and charged to the line, then Connor Robinson’s conversion made it 24-23 to the Dons.

Shortly after the hour, Johnston’s third penalty of the night saw the Raiders go ahead by one again.

But with two minutes to play, the referee awarded a penalty in Doncaster’s favour, 40m out, and Robinson made no mistake from the tee to make it 26-25 and win it for his side.

The Raiders’ final game of the regular season will see Cumbrian rivals Whitehaven visit the Speed Competitions Stadium on Sunday 23 August (3pm kick-off), two weeks before the play-offs begin.

Tickets are available to buy here.

BARROW RAIDERS 25

Tries: Wood, Bullock, King

Goals: Johnston (6)

Drop-goals: Johnston

DONCASTER 26

Tries: Jones (2), Mustapha, Gebbie

Goals: Robinson (5)