Barrow Raiders kicked off the new Betfred Championship season with a resounding 40-0 win at home to Cumbrian rivals Workington Town.
In atrocious playing conditions at the Northern Competitions Stadium, the Raiders ran in seven tries without reply.
After a scoreless opening 10 minutes, an early scuffle led to the sin-binning of Workington’s Brandon Leigh.
And that numerical advantage led to the Raiders posting first points, Joe Bullock crashing through a gap in the defensive line and powering his way over from close range.
Moments after coming on for his competitive debut for the club, it was another forward in Greg Richards who was sent clean through to touch down under the posts shortly before the half-hour mark.
A Brad Walker penalty stretched the lead to 14-0 at half-time, and it took until the hour for any more points to be posted.
Half-back Ellis Archer, who returned to the club from Workington ahead of the 2026 season, jinked his way through the defensive line and dived over to take the Raiders three converted tries clear.
From then on, Workington had no answer to the questions asked by Paul Crarey’s side, who ran in four more tries in the final 16 minutes.
A close-range effort from Man of the Match Ellis Robson was quickly followed by a four-pointer for Curtis Teare, who was the beneficiary of quick hands from Archer and Luke Cresswell on his inside.
Full-back Cresswell wasn’t done there, the experienced Raiders number one going over twice in as many minutes as the game ticked towards the final hooter.
Attention now turns to the second round of the Betfred Challenge Cup, with the Raiders visiting amateur side Wigan St Judes in the second round next weekend (date/time still to be confirmed).
BARROW RAIDERS 40
Tries: Bullock, Richards, Archer, Robson, Teare, Cresswell (2)
Goals: B.Walker (6)
WORKINGTON TOWN 0
Tries:
Goals:
Post-match reaction
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