Barrow Raiders get better of gritty London Broncos

BARROW RAIDERS 24 LONDON BRONCOS 6
PADDY McATEER, Northern Competitions Stadium, Friday

BARROW came out on top in a penalty-littered game – but London never gave up the chase.

The Raiders looked comfortable at the break, when they led 16-0, but in the second half, the visitors had the better territory, however Barrow’s defence stood firm, with the only reply coming on 55 minutes.

Luke Polselli put in a neat chip over the head of Luke Cresswell with the ball hitting an upright and bouncing back into the arms of the stand-off, who dotted it down, with Chris Hellec converting.

But there was no further way through for the Broncos, and Luke Broadbent put the game to bed with a brilliant try five minutes from the end.

It was a scrappy affair with the wet conditions not helping either side and Barrow had it all to do as they twice were reduced to twelve men in the second half, with Ryan King the man yellow carded on each occasion.

The opening exchanges were even and it took a Brad Walker penalty-goal to open the scoring, the stand-off kicking in the absence of Ryan Shaw.

The chance to use the tee came from obstruction taking place as Barrow attacked, with Walker making no mistake.

He soon added a second two-pointer as substitute Delaine Bedward-Gittens was forced off for a head test (he later returned).

On the half-hour mark Barrow increased their lead. Walker put in a neat kick only for Alex Walker, the Broncos fullback, to fumble and in like a flash was Aaron Smith to gather and score. Walker tagged on the goal for 10-0.

The Broncos rarely got into Barrow’s half before the break and the lead was stretched to 16-0 with the aid of another spectacular Tee Ritson try.

Walker fed Curtis Teare inside the Barrow half and he soon had Ritson scorching through before sidestepping Hellec and Alex Walker to race over for Walker to convert.

Barrow were having the monopoly of possession and quick ball from Alex Bishop had Andrew Bulman on his way to the line only to be brought back for a forward pass.

As the half-time hooter was about to go, the Broncos pressed following a tap penalty. A strong drive from Huw Worthington took him towards the line, but to no avail.

Five minutes into the second half, King was sent to the sin bin for holding down in the tackle. The pressure mounted following a second penalty, but on the first tackle, Sadiq Adebiyi lost the ball.

Strong-running Adebiyi was well policed throughout as he tried on several occasions to break the home defence.

Niggling came into play time after time as frustrations grew. The Broncos had plenty of ball in hand, but a long pass for Liam Tindall with the line open went into touch.

Polselli’s try and conversion brought the Broncos back into contention, and King went to the sin bin for a second time, while Ben Hursey-Hord drove hard for the line only for Teare to pull off a try-saving tackle.

Walker added a penalty-goal to make it 18-6 before Adebiyi once more lost the ball with the line in sight, to huge cheers from the home fans.

Then as the Broncos raided, Broadbent intercepted and knocked the ball back. King gathered and released Bulman, who took play to within 30 yards of the visitors’ line. Broadbent was in support to race over, and Walker tagged on the two from wide out.

GAMESTAR: Barrow halfback Brad Walker landed six goals from six attempts and also had a hand in two tries.

GAMEBREAKER: Luke Broadbent’s 75th-minute try for the Raiders finally put the game to bed.

MATCHFACTS
RAIDERS
1 Luke Cresswell
2 Andrew Bulman
3 Matty Costello
18 Curtis Teare
30 Tee Ritson
6 Brad Walker
22 Alex Bishop
32 Ryan Brown
9 Josh Wood
31 Kavan Rothwell
11 Ellis Robson
24 Jarrad Stack
13 Ryan King
Subs (all used)
14 Aaron Smith
16 Charlie Emslie
4 Luke Broadbent
19 Delaine Bedward-Gittens

Tries: Smith (30), Ritson (35), Broadbent (75)
Goals: B Walker 6/6
Sin bin: King (46) – holding down, (60) – holding down

BRONCOS
1 Alex Walker
2 Chris Hellec
21 Chris Ball
34 Louix Gorman
5 Liam Tindall
6 Luke Polselli
28 Jensen Binks
18 Ben Hursey-Hord
9 Curtis Davies
10 Lewis Bienek
11 Will Lovell
12 Sadiq Adebiyi
13 Marcus Stock
Subs (all used)
17 Jenson Monk
8 Huw Worthington
22 Matt Ross
23 Sam Winney