Barrow Raiders handed Oldham their first defeat of the Betfred Championship season with a commanding 20-6 victory at Craven Park, where a vocal home crowd witnessed their side overcome a depleted Roughyeds outfit.

The visitors never recovered from a 10-0 first-half deficit and suffered further setbacks when Logan Astley and George Hirst both sustained ankle injuries, leaving coach Sean Long to lament his team’s sluggish start. “It’s a tough one to take,” Long told Roughyeds TV. “Full credit to Barrow who defended their line very well and worked hard for each other. We will take it on the chin, dust ourselves down and get ready for next week.”

Long’s squad was already missing half-backs Josh Drinkwater and Riley Dean, alongside key players Iain Thornley, Matty Ashurst and Gil Dudson, before Astley went down with a worrying ankle injury on his first game back. Barrow, bolstered by the return of Super League winger Tee Ritson, seized the initiative when Ritson scored a spectacular individual try, kicking over the Oldham defence and chasing through to ground the ball.

Brad Walker added two penalties for Oldham indiscipline to establish a 10-0 lead, which narrowed to 10-6 when Riley Dean capitalised on a Ben Forster offload. Andrew Bulman extended Barrow’s advantage to 14-6 early in the second half, and despite Oldham’s sustained pressure - including a disallowed try for Adam Lawton - Aaron Smith’s late score sealed the win. “Unusually for us we started really slow, really flat,” Long admitted. “When you lose your half after 20 minutes it does throw a spanner in the works. I can’t fault the lads’ effort they just need to play a bit smarter.”

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