WHEN: January 19, 1982

WHERE: Craven Park

BARROW were a team on the up when tomorrow’s opponents Whitehaven came to town 35 years ago.

Frank Foster’s men had won two of their previous three Division One matches – and an emphatic 27-3 victory over the West Cumbrians signalled the start of a run of five straight wins in league and cup.

Barrow did not have things their own way in the opening stages of this Tuesday-night derby though.

It took Foster’s men half-an-hour to get into their stride, but once they did the result was never in doubt.

Seven tries to one under the Craven Park floodlights was a clear indication of the dominance they enjoyed, with the in-form Eddie Szymala and winger Ralph McConnell each grabbing two.

When winger Bob Mackie dived over in the 27th minute to cancel out McConnell’s early score and make it 3-3, it looked like Barrow might be in for a tough battle.

However, three tries in the space of 10 minutes either side of half-time made sure there was only going to be one winner.

Kiwi Ron O’Regan took a pass from Malcolm Flynn to open the floodgates on 36 minutes.

It got worse for Haven before the half-then time whistle as Derek Hadley set off on a brilliant run and sent Great Britain international Szymala racing in from 30 yards. Ian Ball’s boot made it 12-3 at the interval.

The Shipbuilders quickly made sure of the points after the break.

It was man-of-the-match Szymala who powered his way through for a try after returning passes with Steve Tickle.

On the hour-mark, another of Barrow’s outstanding packmen, Steve Herbert, crashed over and planted the ball down one-handed.

The impressive Tickle – whose running and support play caused trouble for Haven all night – set up a second try for winger McConnell 10 minutes from time.

Stand-off Mel Mason rounded off the night in fine style on 75 minutes when he took Hadley’s pass and sprinted through to dive between the posts.

Ball kicked his third goal from seven attempts to complete the demolition job in front of a crowd of 4,474.

Foster was typically forthright in his after-match summary, saying: “It wasn’t a bad performance and we should have had more points, but I was well satisfied."

“It will be much harder against Leeds on Sunday,” added the coach, who had seen his side lose 16-7 at Headingley in their previous match.

But they were to exact their revenge at Craven Park with a thrilling 14-10 victory over the Yorkshire giants.

These were heady days for Barrow, and only a terrible run of results at the end of the season saw them miss out on a top-eight finish by a solitary place, while Haven finished rock bottom in 16th and returned to the second division.

Barrow: Tickle, Moore, Ball, O’Regan, McConnell, Mason, Cairns, Herbert, Wall, Lupton, Flynn, Szymala, Hadley.

Subs: Kirkby and Gee (for Lupton and Flynn).

Whitehaven: Pearson, Mackie, Stewart, Thomson, McClure, Lane, Walker, Grimes, Doran, Glover, Litt, Cottier, Thompson.

Subs: Huddart and Stoddart.