KINGSTONE PRESS LEAGUE ONE

BARROW RAIDERS 4 ROCHDALE HORNETS 18

BARROW Raiders’ drive towards a play-off spot took another wrong turning when they were outplayed in the Craven Park rain and suffered their second defeat in a week, writes Pete Wilson.

The early-season optimism evaporated with this latest setback which leaves coach Paul Crarey with a heavy workload ahead of Sunday’s visit from York. In a bad-tempered scrappy game full of errors and penalties there was little comfort for the 793 fans who braved the weather – and even less for the Barrow players.

Far too often they let personal feuds get in the way of the rugby and scuffles broke out at regular intervals. Rochdale were nothing special – they just had too much for a disappointing Barrow side.

Hornets struck first with a seventh-minute penalty from Paul Crook and for the next 30 minutes it was all downhill for the Raiders.

They spent the rest of a scrappy, penalty-riddled first half trying to slug it out in the slippery conditions and they were clearly coming off second best.

It was a forgettable first half for winger Lee Haney who spent 20 minutes in the sin-bin.

His involvement in the first of a series of petty squabbles cost him a visit to the sidelines to cool off alongside Hornets’ Ben Moores.

He had been back for barely a minute when he was spending a second spell in the bin following yet another penalty, this time for interference in a tackle following a Hornets breakaway.

But the foul only served to delay the inevitable and in the 26th minute Dale Bloomfield went over in the corner to stretch the Hornets lead.

Crook’s goal from the touchline added to the Raiders’ misery. Neither side seemed to learn anything from a series of lectures from referee Terry Crashley and a rising penalty count – there were 18 before the break – did little to cool tempers.

There was precious little sign of any open play from the Raiders who were getting bogged down in the middle, relying heavily on the workrate of the pack, led by Danny Morrow.

Another Crook penalty took Hornets into double figures before Barrow eventually got the breakthrough that had never looked remotely likely. For the first time they worked the ball smartly out to the wing via Josh Ward and Chris Hankinson to Cameron Pitman to go over in the corner to cut the gap to 10-4. But if they were hoping that a dressing room chat might give the Raiders a lift they needed, the home fans were in for more disappointment.

The second half was only ten minutes old when the Hornets went further in front with their second try. Full-back Ryan Fieldhouse tried to cut out a kick ahead by Crook but the ball bounced off his boot straight into the grateful arms of Jono Smith to touch down. Crook’s goal heaped more misery on the Raiders.

Crook’s long kicking kept Barrow penned back and they showed only rare moments of being capable of adding to the first half try from Pitman.

Yet another penalty, this time for a shoulder charge, gave Crook the chance to add another two points to seal the points.