Barrow Raiders 56 Batley Bulldogs 10: McGillvary hat-trick stuns old side Batley

The powerful winger – in possibly his final game for Barrow after a month on loan from Super League Huddersfield Giants – touched down twice in the first half and once in the second as Barrow ran up 50 points for the second game in succession.

Ex-Castleford forward Ned Catic opened the scoring for the hosts in the second minute, before Liam Harrison and former Halifax forward Matt James crossed to make it 16-0.

Jason Walton provided brief respite for Karl Harrison's men as he powered over, but McGillvary – twice – and Andy Henderson hit back before the break as Barrow led 32-4. The sin-binning of John Gallagher for a late tackle on Jamie Rooney at the start of the second period did not help Batley, with Rob Roberts and Liam Harrison scoring while he was off the pitch.

Alex Brown scored a second for Batley and James Martin should have made it three, but dropped a perfect pass from Brown when he was clean through.

Brown also saw a late chance denied as he was tackled on the line by Gary Broadbent, but Barrow had time for two scores in the last 15 minutes, Andy Ballard bagging the first and McGillvary – who spent last year on loan at Batley – rounding things off in a rampant display for the hosts.

Barrow: Broadbent, Ballard, Blackwood, Harrison, McGilvary, Coyle, Rooney, James, Henderson, Bracek, Ostler, Knowles, Catic. Substitutes: Noone, R. Roberts, Campbell, Larkin.

Batley: Campbell, L. Greenwood, Walton, Griffin, A. Brown, Handforth, Wood, Smith, Lythe, Hesketh, Buttery, Potter, T. Gallagher. Substitutes: J. Gallagher, Lindsay, Martin, Tootill.

Referee: C Halloran (RFL).