A penalty from Ryan Shaw eight minutes from time secured a nail-biting 20-18 win for Barrow Raiders over Swinton Lions.
It was a vital victory in Barrow’s fight to avoid the drop into League One and puts them four points ahead of the Lions with five games left.
Swinton are in the second relegation position after Dewsbury’s home defeat by Whitehaven condemned them to the drop.
Whitehaven are a point behind their Cumbrian rivals and the two still have to meet in south Cumbria.
The Lions had been reduced to 12 men for the last eight minutes of the game after George Roby was sent to the bin after a late challenge and Shaw put over the resultant penalty.
The game had started brightly for the Raiders when Aaron Smith burrowed over for the opening try on five minutes. Shaw’s conversion attempt struck the post.
When Swinton were awarded a penalty on 11 minutes Dan Abram wasted no time in landing the two points.
Barrow’s second try came on 16 minutes and Smith was again the scorer but this time he joined the line to slice through for the touchdown which Shaw converted.
Swinton closed the gap on 23 minutes when Barrow were found wanting in defence and Rhys Williams went in for a simple try but Abram couldn’t convert.
On 28 minutes Shaw knocked over a penalty for Barrow and Abram landed one for Swinton before the break as the Raiders took a 12-8 lead into the changing rooms.
It was a really blustery, unpleasant day and both sides had struggled for control.
Five minutes into the second-half Swinton were ahead. Andrew Bulman lost the ball in a tackle and Gavin Rodden picked-up before racing 50 metres to score. Abram converted.
The Lions had started really positively in the second-half and heavy pressure on the Barrow line produced another try on 49 minutes when Jake Spedding finished-off. Crucially, as it turned out, Abram’s kick was wide.
Swinton then applied some really strong pressure but the Barrow defence was magnificent until eventually they raised the siege.
On 68 minutes they were level. Smith, after his two tries, turned provider when he sent skipper Jarrad Stack thundering over for the try which Shaw converted.
All square, the game was on a knife edge and could have gone wither way until Shaw landed the 72nd minute penalty to win it.
