Barrow Raiders produced their best performance of the season to date to emphatically brush aside Bradford Bulls 46-12 at the Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium.
The Raiders ran in a total of eight tries, with full-back Luke Cresswell bagging a hat-trick and Luke Broadbent also scoring twice.
An early Dec Patton penalty goal put the Bulls 2-0 ahead inside five minutes, but a yellow card for Luis Roberts soon gave the Raiders numerical advantage which would help them respond through Luke Broadbent, who crossed the whitewash after a fine break from Shane Toal.
Roberts returned to the field and scored the Bulls’ opening try to make it 6-4, and it would remain that way until after half-time.
However, the Raiders were quick out of the blocks in the second 40 and soon found themselves back ahead when Luke Cresswell was in the right place to support yet another wonderful break from Toal down the left edge. Ryan Shaw converted to make it 10-6 and bring up 1,500 career points in the process.
Another long-range score saw Cresswell grab his second, and the Raiders’ third try of the day, and it got even better when Broadbent touched down out wide minutes later.
The visitors responded shortly after the hour mark through Jack Walker, but it would only be a temporary reprieve, rather than the start of a comeback, as the Raiders kicked on with four tries in the final quarter.
The hosts won the ball back straight from kick-off, and a few plays later, Rio Corkill was next to touch down over in the right corner.
Shane Toal then bulldozed his way over to make it 34-12, and Cresswell soon had his third of the afternoon after dummying his way through the defensive line.
And not even the departure of Ellis Gillam with a suspected concussion in the closing minutes could dampen the mood at the Matt Johnston Prestige Stadium as Jarrod Sammut rounded off the try-scoring, followed by a trio of backflips for good measure!
The Raiders will look to build on Sunday’s superb win when they return to action next Saturday with a trip to the capital to face London Broncos in Round 11 of the Betfred Championship.
Tickets for that fixture can be bought here.
BARROW RAIDERS 46
Tries: Broadbent 2, Cresswell 3, Corkill, Toal, Sammut
Goals: Shaw 7
BRADFORD BULLS 12
Tries: Roberts, Walker
Goals: Patton 2
Post-match reaction
Hear the thoughts of head coach Paul Crarey following Sunday’s win.
Man of the Match
Apollon Security selected Luke Cresswell as Sunday’s Man of the Match!
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