Barrow Raiders Ladies deliver in second half for historic win

The 22-10 win over Featherstone Rovers was a huge result for the Cumbrians in their first ever season in the highest tier of the women’s game.

Raiders Ladies head coach Amanda Wilkinson felt it was a game of two halves for her side and was far happier with what she witnessed in the second 40 minutes.

Speaking to the club’s Facebook page, she said: “I felt like we completely underachieved in the first half by our standards, but I’m definitely happy with the second-half performance.

“We talk a lot about character, our cultures, who we are, what we want to be remembered for. You know what our DNA is.

“For me they didn’t really show that in the first half. They gave Featherstone a lot. We had poor discipline and we invited them in.

“Not taking too much away from Featherstone, but I don’t think they deserved to score, but we invited them in, and they took the opportunity.

“The second half was a lot more gutsy. They showed desire and worked for each other, and it was much more pleasurable to watch.”

It was also more pleasurable for those on the field with the Raiders team playing with a smile on their faces.

And Wilkinson says that enjoying their rugby is a key part for Raiders.

She added: “It’s about enjoying it. That’s a big thing and I think we forget about that sometimes. They are not full-time professionals. They do this because they enjoy it and it’s really important that they do.

“This group of girls really do (enjoy it). They’ve trained really hard this week and put a lot of effort in.

“The intensity in training, you know sometimes I am really tough on them, but you need to be now.

“We needed the points (against Rovers). We needed to get that win and Featherstone equally needed to get the win.

“I think that was shown by the physicality in the game and the want from both teams.

“It was always going to come down to control, composure and commitment, and I think we had heaps of it in the second half and really dominated.”