PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY

BARROW RAIDER 36 WHITEHAVEN 10

THERE is never really any such thing as a friendly in rugby league – especially when two Cumbrian rivals such as Barrow Raiders and Whitehaven go head-to- head.

The sides will, of course, do battle for points when the 2017 Kingstone Press League One campaign is under way – although not until the final match of the regular season when the Raiders make the trip up the coast to the Recreation Ground on July 16.

Yet while yesterday’s encounter might well have ostensibly served as a warm-up for the main event, there was always going to be more at stake in the minds of those both in the thick of the action on the field and watching from the terraces.

After all, how can there ever be such a thing as a friendly against one of your fiercest rivals?

Tempers only boiled over once though and that was not until the 70th minute when Jamie Dallimore and Whitehaven hooker James Newton took exception to each other, with the away side’s Connor Holliday being exiled to the sin-bin for the closing stages after escalating things by running in and throwing punches.

Otherwise, this was a typically hard-fought clash between two local rivals and the signs there would be no quarter given by either side were there from the opening minutes when Barrow’s four-try hero from the previous week, Shane Toal, was forced off with a broken nose and suspected concussion.

Ryan Fieldhouse and Andy Litherland joined the Raiders’ growing list of injury victims later on as well – a hamstring strain and suspected broken thumb respectively – with Tom Walker and Karl Ashall having joined long-term absentee Max Wiper on the sidelines during the draw with Oldham.

It goes without saying that it is hardly ideal for head coach Paul Crarey to be losing key players in this manner less than a month before the season begins with the League One Cup, yet one consolation is the strength in depth he has at his disposal.

Luke Cresswell again showed his potential with another fearless performance after coming on for Fieldhouse at full-back, while Dan Abram and Brad Marwood were lively around the rucks as they battle it out for the chance to back up Nathan Mossop – or perhaps even earn the starting number nine berth – in Ashall’s absence.

The return of skipper Ollie Wilkes to the starting line-up added some extra guile and experience to the pack as well, with both him and fellow prop Joe Bullock fronting up well to the challenge posed by Whitehaven front rowers Tommy Holland and player-coach Carl Forster.

Indeed, the nature of this contest could well be summed up by the fact Wilkes led the way for Barrow with two tries – half the number he scored for the club during the whole of last season.

Crarey seems to have found an exciting half-back combination in Jamie Dallimore and Lewis Charnock too, with their in-play kicking – particularly the high balls – asking all sorts of awkward questions of the visiting back three for the entire 80 minutes.

As a bonus, Charnock enjoyed a 100 per cent record with the boot by converting all six of Barrow’s tries. Praise too should go to the whole of the Raiders teams for their goal-line defence, with plenty of numbers always in place to shut down any attacks, and that was evidenced as much during the opening minutes when Whitehaven were seemingly camped in the home side’s 20.

But on five minutes, the quick-thinking Dallimore caught Haven off-guard with a 20-metre tap restart and then sent Chris Fleming powering deep into opposition territory, setting up Wilkes to barge through for the opening try.

Four minutes later, a lightning move from a penalty saw the Raiders overload Whitehaven out wide and a pinpoint cut-out pass from Fieldhouse found Brett Carter on the wing for the second try.

A fine piece of individual skill from stand-off Dallimore led to him getting on the scoresheet after ducking under a suspiciously high tackle and then jinking his way through the defence on 24 minutes.

Not to be outdone, Charnock broke the Whitehaven line – leaving Glen Riley grasping at thin air – and offloaded to support runner Cresswell, with the former Barrow Island amateur finishing under the posts.

Cresswell was involved in the fifth too, although referee Jamie Barr deemed it a penalty try after deciding a Whitehaven defender had illegally used his foot to stop the full-back getting the ball down.

That 30-point half-time lead became 36 four minutes after play resumed when Dallimore produced a stunning pass to pick out Wilkes, who gratefully dived over for his second of the game.

The number of replacements and Whitehaven successfully slowing Barrow down at the ruck led to a more attritional second half, and the away side got on the board three minutes later when Jesse Joe Parker powered over in the corner and Paul Crook landed the conversion.

Centre Parker grabbed a second following a spell of pressure, taking advantage of teenage half-back Ryan Johnston playing as a makeshift centre, on the hour. But there was to be no comeback and it was the Raiders who took the county bragging rights, along with – more importantly – taking another positive step in the build-up to the new season

Barrow Raiders: Ryan Fieldhouse; Shane Toal, Declan Hulme, Tom Loxam, Brett Carter; Jamie Dallimore, Lewis Charnock; Joe Bullock, Brad Marwood, Ollie Wilkes, Andy Litherland, Bradd Crellin, Martin Aspinwall. Interchange: Dan Abram, Nathan Mossop, James Duerden, Chris Fleming, Luke Cresswell, Brad Brennan, Matty While, Ryan Johnston, Ethan Kelly, Dan Toal.

Whitehaven: Jordan Burnes; Shane Pattison, Jesse Joe Parker, Chris Taylor, Connor Holliday; Tyrone Dalton, Paul Crook; Tommy Holland, James Newton, Carl Forster, Dave Allen, Jake Moore, James Tilley. Interchange: Glen Riley, Mark Shackley, Kurt Maudling, Aiden Worthington.

Referee: Jamie Barr.