Last updated at 12:51, Monday, 22 June 2009

• Andy Ellis and Dave Clark Interview

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NORTHERN RAIL CUP SEMI-FINAL RESULT

BARROW RAIDERS 16 FEATHERSTONE ROVERS 10

CRAVEN Park’s own Houdinis pulled another rabbit out of the hat as they made history last night.

Barrow reached their first ever Northern Rail Cup final with a late flourish that sent the 2,775 supporters inside Craven Park and the thousands of others watching on TV wild with excitement.

As they have before this season, Barrow went into the closing stages of the game trailing on the scoreboard and staring defeat in the face.

But as they have proved so many times, this is a team that refuses to say die and plays right to the hooter, never giving in and once more scoring that vital try just when victory seemed beyond them.

This time they were 10-8 behind with four minutes on the clock, running against a thunderous headwind and having been dominated for much of the second half.

But such things mean nothing to men like Ned Catic, a powerhouse forward who can break though a defensive line like a jackhammer through concrete.

He did just that as the clock ticked into the 76th minute, bringing the crowd to its feet as he steamed into the Rovers 20-metre zone and then put out a pass to that man Andy Ellis.

The lively hooker had been a dominant force in the agonising loss at Halifax on Saturday and once more had been the best player in a Raiders shirt on this night.

Ellis took the ball in his stride and refused to buckle as three Rovers men climbed on his back determined to stop him before he could ground the ball by the posts.

The strength of those three men was nothing compared to Ellis’s sheer willpower as onward he went and over by the sticks, an eruption engulfing the ground as the home support leapt into the air.

But wait, the score was not given yet.

Referee Jamie Leahy had been caught out by the speed of the move himself and was tracking back when Ellis went over.

He could not be sure in his own mind if the Barrow man had ground the ball properly.

But fortune was on the side of the Raiders.

On any other night, Mr Leahy may have ruled the score out, but on this evening the men from Sky Sports were in attendance with their TV cameras.

The decision was referred upstairs to the video referee, with all eyes turning to the makeshift scaffolding structure sat above the Hindpool terracing.

Though less than a minute passed, it seemed an eternity for players and supporters alike.

Ellis was convinced it was a score, but would his optimism prove foolhardy?

It would not.

The decision came down, Mr Leahy pointed to the ground to indicate a try and Barrow were the team who would take their place in the final.

That there was still time for Darren Holt to add a penalty as the hooter sounded meant little, it was Catic and Ellis who won it for Barrow, their efforts giving all those watching on the night exactly what they were hoping for.

Ellis had started the night off too.

Though it was Holt who put the first points on the board with his boot, it was the hooker who used his own initiative to go in from acting half-back (where else?) and put a significant gap between the sides.

But Featherstone had been bitten once already by Barrow this season and they were not about to be made to look foolish.

Holt was closed down whenever he went for a kick – Stuart Dickens taking it that step too far as he clattered a man half his size to the ground after the ball was gone and receiving 10 minutes in the sin bin as his reward.

But it was the 12 men who outplayed the 13, though they were unable to find the score, John Steel closest to crossing as he was held out by Liam Harrison and James Nixon in the corner.

Returned to a full complement, they had Tom Saxton free down the middle, but his pass was to no-one.
Still, the pressure was there and it told when Kyle Briggs – there was no Iestyn Harris in the Rovers team, but it seemed they did not need him – went in off an Andy Kirk pass.

At 8-4 it remained into the second half, the billowing gales now in the faces of the home team and pushing the visitors onward.

And into the lead they went when Tommy Haughey went through three men and somehow grounded, again a decision made by the video referee.

It was 10-8 to those men from West Yorkshire now and the curtain was coming down on Barrow’s run.
No-one, though, had told that to Catic and Ellis, escape artists extraordinaire.
Barrow Raiders: Gary Broadbent, Chris Larkin, Andreas Bauer, Liam Harrison, James Nixon, Liam Finch, Darren Holt, Brett McDermott, Andy Ellis, Andy Bracek, Ned Catic, Paul Noone, Zeb Luisi.
Subs: Chris Young, Jamie Butler, Martin Ostler, Andy Brocklehurst.

Featherstone Rovers: Ian Hardman, John Steel, Andy Kirk, Tom Saxton, Wayne Pryce, Kyle Briggs, Andy Cain, Stuart Dickens, Joe McLochlan, James Houston, Matt Dale, Tim Spears, Tommy Huaghey.
Subs: Joe Hirst, Ross Divorty, Jack Lee, John Fallon.

Referee: Jamie Leahy (Dewsbury).

PLAYBACK

12 MINUTES: Darren Holt penalty, 2-0.
13 MINUTES: Andy Ellis try, Holt conversion, 8-0.
32 MINUTES: Kyle Briggs try, 8-4.
64 MINUTES: Tommy Haughey try, Brigg conversion, 8-10.
76 MINUTES: Ellis try, Holt conversion, 14-10.
80 MINUTES: Holt penalty, 16-10.

First published at 19:20, Thursday, 18 June 2009
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk