PAUL Crarey hailed Barrow Raiders' strength of fortitude as they battled back from 10 points down with 20 minutes remaining to claim the League One Cup with a 38-32 victory over North Wales Crusaders in Blackpool.

Having led 20-12 at the break, three tries in the space of 12 minutes saw Barrow suddenly facing a 30-20 deficit, only for them to rally and clinch the win in the closing stages of the final at Bloomfield Road with a 75th-minute try from Danny Morrow.

Crarey was confident his side could turn the match around, having seen them come from behind in the second half against York City Knights in the Challenge Cup and hold off Keighley Cougars in a recent high-scoring Kingstone Press League One game, and the head coach was delighted the players proved his confidence was not misplaced.

“We went 10 points behind and we spoke as staff how we just had to stay in the grind, how we could change the momentum of the game and if we did that we'd get the ascendancy, and we certainly did that,” said Crarey.

“We're a side who have put points on late in games; we did it at York coming from behind, we did it at Keighley where we were under the pump as well, so we're capable of doing it and it's all about staying patient.

“We spoke to the boys and said 'we've got to do what we've got to do to get the job done; if it's not pretty we'll do it, if we can make it pretty we'll do that as well'.

“Credit to the players, we've had the toughest May probably I've ever seen as a professional player – never mind a coach – with what has been thrown at us and we've come out the other end now, so we want to get back to some normality.”

North Wales went into the game as heavy underdogs, but showed they are more than capable of running the top sides in League One close on their day.

Scrum-half Ryan Smith, who Crarey coached as part of the BARLA Great Britain team, was the heartbeat of the Crusaders team and Crarey was not surprised both him and his team-mates produced an impressive display.

“We watched them against London Skolars and they are capable of doing that,” said Crarey. “Ryan Smith is very opportunist and a big show-and-go man – we talked about that in the video – so we just didn't have the legs to close him down from the inside and he scored.

“We threw an intercept that got us into trouble, we passed the ball when we had yardage off a quick ruck and there were possibly a few decisions we weren't happy with, but at times we look scintillating with the ball when we got quick rucks.

“I thought North Wales dictated the game in the first 30 minutes and then when we upped the tempo, I thought we looked pretty good.”

Crarey dedicated the win to those members of the Barrow squad who did not make the matchday 17 and – on a personal level – to former statistician Lee O'Brian, who passed away aged just 33 several years ago.

He was relieved to see the team get back to winning ways after heavy back-to-back defeats to Super League side Leeds Rhinos in the Challenge Cup and away Toronto Wolfpack in the league as well, and is optimistic this triumph can be the start of a new era of success for the club

“We're just pleased to get the win, it's been a tough month for us, it's great to get some money in the bank with the Challenge Cup and this game as well,” said Crarey.

“We've lost two games over May – Warrington got beaten by 40 points at Leeds, so that's how good they are and going to Toronto is a massive, tough ask with the players and personnel they have available

“We wrote those games off as well, especially with not being able to take a full side out to Toronto, but here we did it for ourselves and our brilliant fans who have travelled in their numbers – and that's what were capable of doing.

“If we get our act together, we can be a major force in the game if everything gets done across the board.”