BARROW RAIDERS 18 SHEFFIELD EAGLES 16
PETER WILSON, Speed Competitions Stadium, Saturday

IT needed a late Brad Walker penalty to split the teams in a see-saw contest that was more a case of might-have-beens than high quality.

Sheffield looked like extending their reputation as Barrow’s bogey team – or as Raiders chairman Steve Neale suggested “having a hoodoo over us” – until the closing minutes when a high tackle offered Walker the simple opportunity of snatching victory.

Sheffield went ahead in the tenth minute when Barrow were caught offside and Jordan Abdull accepted two easy points to open the scoring.

The lead was brief – just eight minutes long – before Barrow’s loose-forward Ryan King used his strength to make the most of a Harvey Makin pass to crash over by the posts.

Sheffield came close to a quick-fire reply but lost possession over the line and within minutes they were made to count the cost, Makin turning from try-maker to try-scorer and the Raiders, with two Walker conversions, were 12-2 in front.

Sheffield relied heavily on the high kicking of Abdull but it was the best running move of the match that ended with Billy Walkley rounded it off by racing clear of the home defence. Abdull kicked the goal and the visitors were only four points adrift.

Four minutes before the break Sheffield levelled things up with a try in the corner from Connor Bower.

All was set for a second half of thrills and spills. Instead it turned out to be a messy combination of missed chances by both teams.

One exception was Walkley’s second try in the 46th minute that put the Eagles four points in front while Barrow were a man down through Greg Richards’ sin bin for a trip.

It was the start of an incident-free spell with the Raiders looking out of sorts when they did mount an attack, let down by some poor handling.

Eventually it took a challenging high kick from Walker to reach Ellis Robson and the second-rower was rewarded for his hard work by touching down in the corner.

Walker’s first miss of the game kept the scores level until the 75th minute, when Sheffield were penalised and the Barrow stand-off accepted the points.

Even then, Sheffield had the chance to snatch victory. Barrow skipper Ryan Johnston spilled Abdull’s long restart kick but, even with the aid of an extra six tackles, Sheffield were held out and Barrow hung on.

GAMESTAR: A match to ignore stardom and choose Ellis Robson for his part in a gritty performance.

GAMBREAKER: Brad Walker’s 75th-minute penalty was the only difference.

MATCHFACTS

RAIDERS
1 Luke Cresswell
2 Andrew Bulman
4 Curtis Teare
3 Shane Toal
5 Luke Broadbent
6 Brad Walker
7 Ryan Johnston
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
30 Tom Forber
31 Harvey Makin

Tries: King (18), Makin (23), Robson (65)
Goals: B Walker 3/4
Sin bin: Richards (43) – tripping

EAGLES
2 Joe Brown
21 Ryan Miller
18 Will Oakes
4 Kieran Gill
5 Billy Walkley
6 Kai Morgan
27 Jordan Abdull
22 Masi Matongo
9 Corey Johnson
10 Martyn Reilly
11 Connor Bower
23 Alex Foster
15 George Griffin
Subs (all used)
14 Reiss Butterworth
16 Blake Broadbent
20 Lewis Peachey
28 Greg Eden

Tries: Walkley (30, 46), Bower (36)
Goals: Abdull 2/4

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-2, 6-2, 12-2, 12-8, 12-12; 12-16, 16-16, 16-18

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Raiders: Ellis Robson; Eagles: Billy Walkley

Penalty count: 7-6
Half-time: 12-12
Referee: Aaryn Belafonte
Attendance: 1,398