Dewsbury Rams claimed a vital two points against relegation rivals Barrow Raiders on Sunday afternoon at the Tetley’s Stadium.
Dom Speakman who has returned to the club and on loan Halifax player Conor McGrath both scored on their debut to help the Rams get a crucial two points.
The game started badly for the home side though when the Cumbrian team took an early lead when Wartovo Puara crossed the line to score. Jamie Dallimore was on kicking duty for the Raiders that day and duly put the first kick through the posts to put Barrow on an early 6-0 lead in the fourth minute.
Barrow extended their lead four minutes later when Deon Cross managed to cross the whitewash, Dallimore this time missed his kick meaning the Raiders were 10-0 up.
The Rams woke up by the 20th minute and it was a delicious cross field kick from Sykes to pick out new boy McGrath on the left wing. McGrath dived through the air and planted the ball down to score a try in what was a terrific moment of athleticism by McGrath and pin point accuracy kick by Sykes. Sykes then couldn’t add the extra’s meaning the score now stood at Dewsbury 4-10 Barrow.
Three minutes later and the Rams were now level, Dom Speakman managed to get low enough and got the drive to get down and score another try. Sykes this time made sure of the kick putting the score at 10-10.
Barrow went back in front on the 30th minute mark when a penalty was awarded to them in what was a knock on and tackle in the air moment. Dallimore put the ball through the posts to put the Raiders 12-10 up.
That’s how the score stayed until half-time, then came the second half and the visitors started the second period much like the first. Again scoring in the first few moments, this time it was Tee Riston who broke away from the Rams defence, unfortunately Rob Worrincy just couldn’t catch the Barrow man who slid over the line with ease. Dallimore kicked the conversion to add the two extra points meaning the score now stood at Dewsbury 10-18 Barrow.
Dallimore kicked over a penalty in the 50th minute to extend the visitors lead by another two points.
Again Dewsbury woke up late in the half, and scored two tries in quick succession, first Owen Trout crossed the line with one of his powerful runs on the 50th minute. The on loan Leeds man making sure no one was going to stop him from grabbing his try of the afternoon. Then just four minutes later Adam Ryder found a gap in the Barrow defence to slip through after some scintillating passing earlier on in the move to make space for Ryder to exploit. Sykes converted one out of the two kicks, and that put the Rams level once again in the match.
Sykes converted a penalty kick on the 60th minute to put the home side in the lead for the first time in the game. He then scored his own try just four minutes later with a brilliant driving run underneath the posts. Liam Finn was now on kicking duty and made sure the extra’s were added to Sykes’s try. The score now stood at 28-20 to Dewsbury.
Sykes was again involved in the next try for the Rams on the 68th minute when Finn passed to Sykes who passed to Knowles who scored the try in the left hand corner. The Rams were now taking the game to Barrow, Finn converted his kick to put the tally at 34-20 to Dewsbury.
Barrow started to fight back and Riston scored his second try of the game on the 72nd minute, Dallimore added the conversion points to make the score 34-26 to Dewsbury.
The scoring for the game finished on the 76th minute when McGrath scored his second try of the day in the left hand corner as the Rams once again put together a nice move. Finn again kicked the conversion attempt to put the final score at 40-26 to Dewsbury.
Next up for the Rams is a game away at the Sheffield Eagles on Friday night.
