A late rally wasn’t enough for Barrow Raiders as they were knocked out of the Betfred Challenge Cup by Halifax Panthers.
In a closely-fought game not too dissimilar to last week’s Betfred Championship clash which the Raiders edged 16-12, there was little to choose between the two teams after 80 minutes.
In the end, it was the Panthers who set up a home meeting with Bradford Bulls in the next round thanks to a 24-18 triumph at the Shay.
The home side took an early lead as James Saltonstall dived over in the corner, before Jake Maizen quickly extended their advantage to make it 8-0 with 12 minutes gone.
The Panthers capitalised on Josh Wood’s yellow card for a dangerous tackle and added a third try of the afternoon on 29 minutes when the lively Louis Jouffret exploited a gap to score after some quick hands in the build-up.
14-0 down at the break, the Raiders got the quick start to the second half that they needed when Danny Langtree powered his way over.
A Jarrod Sammut conversion made it an eight-point ball game, but a Halifax sucker-punch on the hour mark saw Eribe Doro claim a high ball to touch down, with Saltonstall’s second of the game seemingly taking the game out of the Raiders’ reach not too long after.
Still, there was time for a late rally as Rio Corkill marked his return to the side with a burrowing finish from close range.
Langtree then barged over for his second of the day as the Raiders made it 24-18 with less than two minutes to go.
There wasn’t enough time for a third quickfire score late on, however, as Halifax edged their way into Round 5 of the competition.
HALIFAX PANTHERS 24
Tries: Saltonstall 2, Jouffret, Doro
Goals: Keyes 4
BARROW RAIDERS 18
Tries: Langtree 2, Corkill
Goals: Sammut 3
Post match reaction
Hear the thoughts of Barrow Raiders head coach Paul Crarey following Sunday’s defeat at the Shay.
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