Crarey: The town is starting to buzz

Barrow boss Paul Crarey says Saturday’s League 1 Cup final at the Summer Bash in Blackpool is just reward for his team’s performances this season.

The Raiders currently sit in second place in League 1 and progressed to the final after cruising to a 64-14 victory over Oxford in their semi-final.

Crarey said: “It’s something we set out our stall to do – we want to win as a group and as a goal at the start of the season we wanted to take the fans to Blackpool.

“I think we’re on par with a lot of teams in League 1 – the lads have got a great culture in the club and work hard. We’re going all out this weekend to win it.

“We took the fans to Leeds a few weeks ago in the Challenge Cup and took 13 coach loads – 800 or 900 people travelled with us and the town is starting to buzz with rugby league again.

“A little kid came up to me at the game and said ‘hey Crarey, I want to play for your team’ – he didn’t have a Super League shirt on he had a Barrow shirt on.

“It’s a massive milestone for us that the sport is growing here and the team deserve a little bit of success for the following we’re starting to get and the work we’re putting in.”