Barrow Raiders head into another massive relegation battle at the weekend when they travel to Keighley.
They had come out on top in their last dog-eat-dog contest when they pipped Whitehaven with a last gasp drop goal in a pulsating Cumbrian derby.
But since then they also played well in a 34-10 defeat at Toulouse Olympique and coach Paul Crarey believes his players can take heart from their performance in the
Crarey said: “It was a strong performance. I thought we played some fantastic rugby and scored a fantastic try at the start of the game. We put some good stuff together, and Shane Toal and Andrew Bulman terrorised the right edge of theirs.
“There were a couple of lapses of concentration, which you’re going to get against a full-time team on a short turnaround.”
The Raiders remain a point ahead of second-bottom Swinton Lions while Sunday’s opponents Keighley are just a place and point below them in the league table.
“We’ll think about Keighley on Wednesday because we’ve given the lads a little bit of downtime.
“We need to get back on it in preparation for them. We’ve got to be nice and smart when we go there and do a number because they’re fighting for their lives as well.
“We’re looking forward to the challenge. There’s nothing between a lot of sides in the Championship, but we’ve got to be better in certain areas.
“We can be a little bit smarter, but I’m so proud of the players and the way they’ve conducted themselves over the last few weeks.
“We’re looking forward to the run-in. I’d rather be in our situation than some of the clubs around us, and we’ve got a great opportunity to kick on and seal our place in the Championship.”
