Holt hopes to maintain Barrow fortress

Barrow were the only club in professional rugby league to go unbeaten at home for the whole of 2012, and coach Darren Holt wants to keep that record going in the new season.

The Raiders are one of four teams promoted to the Championship for 2013, alongside fellow Cumbrians Workington and Whitehaven, and Championship 1 winners Doncaster, who pipped Barrow to glory both in the league and the play-offs.

He said: “I look at Barrow here at home and I still think we are very, very difficult to beat on our own patch, no matter who we are playing against.

“It really has to be our focus on our home games, with the attitude that it’s our ground and if you want to come here, you have got to perform very well to take the points from us, rather than us just giving teams points.”

Their first home game of next season comes against Doncaster, with the Raiders seeking revenge for September’s Grand Final defeat at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Holt added: “I would be very happy – in fact, I wouldn’t just be happy, I would be amazed – if come the end of the 2013 season, the record remains the same.”

Barrow were Championship winners in 2009, but were relegated in 2011 after they were charged with a salary cap breach and deducted 29 points, which saw former chairman Des Johnston banned from rugby league for eight years.