Tough return

After pushing Barrow all the way at New River three weeks ago, Skolars would have been hoping for a better result in the return fixture.

However, four tries in 12 minutes gave the Cumbrians a convincing victory after a very close first half.

Barrow got off to a good start when Liam Finch offloaded to Brett McDermott to score. Ashley Tozer made a good break at the other end, but Skolars had to be content with a Ben Joyce penalty from the move.

The Raiders increased their lead when Darren Holt plucked a looped pass out of the air and managed to twist round the defence.

When Rubert Jonker was sin-binned for holding down at a tackle, it put additional pressure on the visitors. However, they reacted well and a good passing move saw Austen Aggrey touch down in the corner.

But they were caught napping a few minutes later when Jamie Marshall pushed through from a metre out.

Just before half-time, Jermaine Coleman followed up his own high kick and beat the Barrow full-back in the air, getting the ball back for Gareth Rees to score. Joyce's conversion narrowed the deficit to 16-12.

Some sustained pressure from the home side forced some strong defence from Skolars, with Coleman and Corey Simms putting in a big effort on the right side. However, veteran centre Phil Atkinson finally managed to evade the defence after a big break from running prop Ian Rawlinson.

Tozer again went close but Barrow moved into a comfortable lead with a try from James Finch after Nathan Meischke just failed with an interception attempt.

Tries for James Nixon, Paul Jones and Mike Whitehead soon followed and, when Paul Wilcock went over, nine different players had scored tries for Barrow.

The only respite came late on when Joyce worked his way over in the corner, but it was little consolation on the long journey back from the Cumbrian coast.

Skolars host Blackpool Panthers this Saturday (2pm).