Barrow Raiders took a huge step towards securing their safety in the Betfred Championship with a courageous 32-14 victory over Swinton Lions at the Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium.

The Raiders dampened the blow of last weekend’s 26-20 defeat away at Keighley Cougars by running in six tries against fellow relegation rivals Swinton Lions in a massive fixture for both clubs.

Despite an explosive start from Paul Crarey’s men, it was the visitors who opened the scoring after 12 minutes, converting a penalty following a late tackle, but the hosts would hit back almost instantly.

A high kick into the corner from the Raiders allowed Luke Broadbent to dive over after he capitalised on a defensive error from the Swinton winger who waited for the ball to roll dead, with Shaw converting the game’s first try.

The visitors saw themselves go down to 12 men just before the half-hour mark when George Roby was sin-binned for a tip tackle on Jack Billington, and the Raiders exploited their personnel advantage when an attack down the left edge was quickly switched over to the right by Sammut who fired in a long-range pass to Keanan Brand to go over for his first try in Raiders colours.

The Raiders extended their lead two minutes before half-time when Luke Cresswell spotted a gap in the Lions’ defence which allowed Andrew Bulman to crash over the line for his sixth try in four consecutive matches, as the hosts marched into the sheds 16-2 ahead.

Shortly after the interval, Cresswell made another fantastic break and drove the attacking line 50 metres up the field, which allowed the Raiders to pile on the pressure and allowed Ryan Shaw to dive over in the corner.

Swinton would hit back 54 minutes in when Abram caught the Raiders’ defence off-guard down the left wing, closing the gap to 14 points.

However, the hosts would not toil under the magnitude of the fixture and would be rewarded for their determined performance with two quick tries from Keanan Brand and Luke Broadbent.

Andrew Badrock gave the Lions a consolation try five minutes before the end but it was too late to mount a significant comeback, and the Raiders claimed arguably their biggest two points of the season.

The result moves Paul Crarey’s men up to tenth in the table, three points above Swinton who occupy the final relegation spot. The Raiders could secure their survival in the Betfred Championship with a win away at Newcastle Thunder next Saturday.

Tickets for that fixture can be bought here.

BARROW RAIDERS 32

Tries: Broadbent (2), Brand (2), Bulman, Shaw

Goals: Shaw (4)

SWINTON LIONS 14

Tries: Abram, Badrock

Goals: Abram (2)

Man of the Match

Furness Building Society selected Josh Wood as yesterday’s Man of the Match!

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