BARROW RAIDERS 39 DEWSBURY RAMS 28
PETER WILSON, Speed Competitions Stadium, Saturday

AN astonishing second-half fightback by Barrow halted runaway Dewsbury in their tracks and turned half-time boos and jeers into final hooter cheers from the sun-baked crowd.

The visitors went in at the break with a 28-0 lead and with every reason to think that the job was all but done and dusted. They were so far ahead of the Raiders in every corner of the field that even that margin was not flattering.

With scrum-half Jacob Hookem enjoying the freedom of the park to create space for others, Dewsbury needed just six minutes to spring their first surprise, hooker Danny Addy forcing his way through a crowd of tacklers for the first try.

And when a routine passing movement ending with a kick to the corner caught Barrow off guard and Tom Delaney forced his way over, the Rams had every reason to think that this was going to be their day.

Even more so four minutes later when a rare Raiders attack broke down, George Senior intercepted and raced fully 70 metres for try number three.

And Dewsbury were far from finished. On the half-hour Jacob Algar got his name on the scoresheet, and to round off a profitable 40 minutes Hookem broke through and Liam Copland did the rest.

With Hookem converting all but the last of those five Rams tries, it was 28-0 at the break.

Whatever was said in Paul Crarey’s half-time team talk in the Raiders dressing room, it certainly worked.

From looking worn out, Barrow found the energy to produce some of the form that has taken them up among the Championship front-runners.

Two minutes into the second half Brad Walker sent Andrew Bulman in for their first try.

Four minutes later it was Ryan King’s turn, and suddenly the home fans found something to keep them interested.

The gap was narrowing and the Dewsbury defence started to crack. Two tries in a four-minute spell from Shane Toal and Alex Bishop brought the sides level and from that moment there could only be one outcome.

Brad Walker’s long-range field-goal nudged Barrow in front but there was still plenty of action to come – and Dewsbury paid the penalty.

There was no stopping Joe Bullock scoring under the posts, but it was when Curtis Teare raced clear in the final minute for another try that sparks began to fly.

A mass melee in the corner resulted in six cards (yellows to King, Teare and Toal for the hosts, plus Louis Collinson and Dan Coates for the visitors, who saw Jacob Bateman shown red) and rounded off a game that turned from a routine Rams win to a comeback to beat them all.

GAMESTAR: When Barrow needed somebody to lead them into action, Alex Bishop was the first to step forward.

GAMEBREAKER: The half-time turnaround – 67 points all scored at one end of the ground says it all.

MATCHFACTS

RAIDERS
1 Luke Cresswell
2 Andrew Bulman
4 Curtis Teare
3 Shane Toal
5 Luke Broadbent
6 Brad Walker
24 Ellis Archer
10 Joe Bullock
17 Alex Bishop
8 Tom Walker
11 Ellis Robson
22 Jarrad Stack
13 Ryan King
Subs (all used)
15 Charlie Emslie
16 Greg Richards
20 Dan Knott
31 Harvey Makin

Tries: Bulman (42), King (49), Robson (60), Toal (64), Bishop (68), Bullock (77), Teare (79)
Goals: B Walker 5/7
Field-goals: B Walker (71)
Sin bin: King (79) – fighting, Teare (79) – fighting, S Toal (79) – fighting

RAMS
29 Brad O’Connor
5 Liam Copland
27 Connor Carr
4 George Senior
2 Tom Delaney
6 Dan Coates
7 Jacob Hookem
8 Luke Nelmes
35 Danny Addy
30 Ellis Lingard
15 Jacob Bateman
23 Brad Graham
16 Louis Collinson
Subs (all used)
17 Harvey Roberts
20 Valu Tanē Bentley
21 Monty Lumb
28 Jacob Algar

Tries: Addy (6), Delaney (19), Senior (23), Algar (30), Copland (36)
Goals: Hookem 4/5
Sin bin: Collinson (79) – fighting, Coates (79) – fighting
Dismissal: Bateman (79) – fighting

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 0-18, 0-24, 0-28; 4-28, 10-28, 16-28, 22-28, 28-28, 29-28, 35-28, 39-28

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Raiders: Alex Bishop; Rams: Jacob Hookem

Penalty count: 10-5
Half-time: 0-28
Referee: Milo McKelvey