Aaron Smith seals jubilant Barrow Raiders victory over Oldham

BARROW RAIDERS 20 OLDHAM 6
PADDY McATEER, Northern Competitions Stadium, Sunday

CRAVEN PARK erupted in the 78th minute when Aaron Smith galloped in from 20 metres to seal a magnificent victory for Barrow against previously unbeaten Oldham.

Alex Bishop put the icing on the cake with the conversion.

It was the second time in the game that the vocal home supporters erupted, the first being when Tee Ritson crossed for a brilliant try to put Barrow ahead.

Oldham may claim they were without five top-liners, but it was equally as bad for Barrow who likewise were missing key players.

The Raiders scored three tries, while the Roughyeds only managed one after an unusual error from fullback Luke Creswell.

Brad Walker had edged Barrow into a 10-0 lead with a penalty goal.

However, from the restart Cresswell knocked on and Oldham took the scrum to go in for a Riley Dean try converted by Kieran Dixon.

Barrow may have scored three neat tries, but the victory was all down to a magnificent defensive display in the second half.

With the help of several penalties, Oldham bombarded the home line continuously, but Barrow were smelling a win against a team that thrashed them 42-4 last month in the Challenge Cup at Boundary Park.

Barrow opened the scoring in the 14th minute with a Ryan Johnston pass finding Ritson 40 metres. He hogged the touchline and when approached by Cian Tyrer he chipped over his head to regather and do what Tee Ritson does, sprint over the line for Brad Walker to convert for a 6-0 lead.

A further raid saw Cresswell and Luke Broadbent take play into Oldham’s half. Cresswell took a return ball, only to be impeded in the tackle and Walker stepped up to add the goal and soon added a second following a further incident in a tackle.

However, from the restart Cresswell fumbled, allowing a scrum from which Riley Dean fed Ben Forster, who sent a quick return ball to Dean for him to stretch over the line, with Dixon adding the goal to reduce the margin to four points.

This brought Oldham back into the game, with Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e going on a dangerous swerving run, only to be held inches short .

The second half was barely three minutes old when a Johnston high ball saw skipper Jarrad Stack rise high to gather; he sent a neat pass to Broadbent and in like a flash was Andy Bulman.

Barrow rarely got into Oldham’s territory in this period as Sean Long’s side went on the rampage, spreading the ball wide time after time with Matty Wildie at the heart of the raids.

Barrow were not going to surrender as they fought tooth and nail to keep Oldham at bay with a roaring crowd behind them.

Oldham trailed by eight points in the closing stages and, try as they might, they couldn’t find a way through a solid defence.

And as the clock ticked down to eighty minutes, Charlie Emslie parted to Aaron Smith, who went into a higher gear to seal a wonderful victory with the conversion from Bishop.

The two teams meet again at Boundary Park next month in the 1895 Cup.

GAMESTAR: Barrow forward Tom Walker, despite having a spell off with a slight knock, came back in the second half to lead the Barrow charge.

GAMEBREAKER: Aaron Smith’s late try denied Oldham any hope of victory.

MATCHFACTS
RAIDERS
1 Luke Cresswell
2 Andrew Bulman
4 Luke Broadbent
18 Curtis Teare
30 Tee Ritson
22 Alex Bishop
7 Ryan Johnston
8 Tom Walker
14 Aaron Smith
31 Kavan Rothwell
11 Ellis Robson
24 Jarrad Stack
6 Brad Walker
Subs (all used)
9 Josh Wood
16 Charlie Emslie
5 Shane Toal
33 Jamie Pye

Tries: Ritson (14), Bulman (43), Smith (78)
Goals: B Walker 3/4, Bishop 1/1

OLDHAM
31 Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e
22 Cian Tyrer
24 Ben O’Keefe
18 Jumah Sambou
2 Kieran Dixon
1 Logan Astley
7 Riley Dean
15 James Chapelhow
9 Matty Wildie
21 Lewis Baxter
17 Elijah Taylor
27 Ben Forster
16 Pat Moran
Subs (all used)
14 Bailey Aldridge
19 Ted Chapelhow
30 George Hirst
12 Adam Lawton