Barrow were given a hard time by Championship title favourites Featherstone Rovers as they suffered a 58-6 defeat.
Coach Paul Crarey expected a tough test against a powerful Featherstone side and they didn’t disappoint.
It started in the first minute with a try from Luke Briscoe and the Rovers scored their 10th try in the last minute of the game.
Although Barrow stuck at it gamely it was a case of damage limitation long before the end after the south Cumbrians had turned round 22-6 in arrears.
The Barrow try had come right at the end of the first half when Shane Toal leapt highest to grab a cross kick and dive over in the corner. Jarrod Sammut added the conversion.
Ryley Jacks was the main threat for Featherstone and when he went over on the hour he was completing a hat-trick of tries.
Barrow did have their moments. Tee Ritson just failed to collect a Sammut kick which would have put him in and Josh Wood could not quite gather a pass when looking a certain scorer.
Mainly though Barrow were in defence mode, and it did not help that on occasions they were a bit sloppy and Featherstone frequently took full advantage.
Barrow have coped well with what the Championship has thrown at them but this was a step too far.
However they remain in third place and after the big two of Featherstone and Leigh they do lead the rest, which is still a fine achievement from a side newly promoted from League One.
With virtually a third of the season gone the task for Crarey and his players will be to re-group and knuckle down to maintain a position in the play-offs.
