Barrow Raiders had warm words for the efforts of their West Wales counterparts after romping to a 76-0 victory which secured promotion back to the Betfred Championship on Saturday.
There were major doubts over whether the match would go ahead after West Wales were affected by a number of Covid cases last week – and although a cancellation would have guaranteed Barrow promotion without making a tackle, the Cumbrians were desperate to play the match to reward the growing number of supporters who have backed them this season.
West Wales were able to use the relaxations on player registrations which have been used at Betfred Championship and League 1 level since being agreed at a club meeting in July to include a number of debutants – some of them converts from rugby union with minimal league experience.
Steve Neale, the Barrow chairman, said: “We’re so pleased that West Wales fulfilled the fixture so that we could earn and celebrate the title on the field. Full credit to the club and also the players, they gave it a good go, never giving in. We really hope that they start to prosper.”
For Andrew Thorne, the West Wales chairman, that message meant a lot, as the club completed another difficult season – which had started with such promise, with the hype surrounding Gavin Henson’s debut against Widnes Vikings in the Betfred Challenge Cup.
“I thank Steve for his words, and I also praise the players whose efforts deserve recognition, despite the scoreline,” he said.
“To be honest with where we were early in the week, the easy option would have been to concede a 24-0, as we’ve seen in some other competitions this year.
“But we didn’t think that would reflect well on us as a club, and also we wanted to do the right thing by Barrow.
“I know people will judge us by the scoreline, but it is worth putting some context into what happened. Going to Barrow was going to be a tough game regardless, top versus bottom at the end of a long and hard season.
“But then we had Covid issues which took away a few players which added to injury and other unavailability left us really struggling.
“I have to praise the role of Ash Bateman, who has been a stalwart of the club and a real catalyst for us this year. His leadership was crucial in getting a squad together to make the long journey – and then in competing very credibly on the field, certainly for the first 20 minutes.
“Our captain Joe Burke was one of the players with Covid so he couldn’t travel, but even from his sickbed he also played an important part in getting our squad together.
“We had Welsh boys in the team from rugby union who wouldn’t have travelled that far for a game in their lives. They had to go into the lion’s den at Barrow, but they had a real dig.
“I know we can be an easy target having finished bottom of the table again, but I think this year has shown a lot of the things that Wales can offer the sport of Rugby League, whether it was the media coverage around Gavin’s debut, the development of the women’s and community game, and the success of the Crusaders in North Wales.
“With a World Cup to look forward to in 2022, we want to be starting again in League 1, which we know will be tough again.”
