Last updated at 21:13, Monday, 21 January 2013

BARROW Raiders are trying to find late opposition to end their pre-season campaign after yesterday’s friendly with Whitehaven was called off.

NO PLAY: Barrow Raiders’ pre-season game against Whitehaven was postponed yesterday

The game was pulled due to a frozen pitch at Craven Park, leaving coach Darren Holt and his side with a blank weekend. The club are now looking for potential opponents for this weekend, with Whitehaven unavailable as they are playing in France.

Holt was frustrated by the cancellation, but there was no choice after sub-zero temperatures on Saturday night left parts of the playing surface unsafe.

“There was about 80 per cent of the pitch that was perfect, but there were just some areas that were frozen and rutted,” he said.

“Any ruts that there were on the pitch had frozen and if a player had gone down hard on any of them, then it was a potential leg-breaker.

“We were down there at 9am and, while we hoped that by 2pm the pitch could have thawed out, we realised it might not happen.

“We had a difficult decision to make, but in the end there was only one decision that we could make and that was to call the game off. It really was frustrating because 80 per cent of the pitch was perfect and playable.”

Holt is hopeful new opponents can be found for this weekend, with the Championship season starting next week.

However, he accepts it is short notice and feels the team will be ready for the campaign regardless.

“We could do with another game before the season starts, but if we didn’t get one it wouldn’t be a disaster,” he said.

“We will have to wait and see what happens.”

First published at 17:31, Monday, 21 January 2013
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk