BARROW Thorns made history at Hoops, as their first women’s team took on Worcester Wolves in the Basketball England National League.

It was defeat on the day for Thorns, but a big step forward.

The Barrow men also stepped out in National League Division Four – for the first time in 10 years – but their day too did not end as they would have liked.

Barrow Thorns Women 36 Worcester Wolves 98

THORNS faced an experienced team drawn from students at Worcester University, a side with several foreign players.

The hosts were nervous on their big day, and this showed in the early exchanges.

Rachel Kerr was the first Thorn to put points on the board, sinking two from the free-throw line, but by that time Worcester had taken a nine-point lead.

Barrow created chances, but rusty finishing led to a scoring drought as they ended the first quarter 26-6 down, with only a trickle of points from Paige Livingston, Emily Duerden and Mollie Stronach.

The second period was much the same, with Thorns creating opportunities but lacking clinical finishing.

Transition defence was non-existent at times and a lack of concentration and awareness in their half-court defence led to fast-break points for the visitors.

Stronach and Kerr found the net again and, as half-time approached, Sophie Pearson scored from the three-point line and Emily Cox opened her account.

Thorns had a mountain to climb in the second half, trailing 49-17. A stronger performance seemed wishful thinking as they gifted the Wolves easy baskets.

The visitors’ defence was tough to break down and, despite chances, Barrow struggled to score, with only Kerr, Livingston and Katie Smith finding the net.

Thorns went into the final quarter 83-25 down, but finally started to put together a decent performance.

Ruby Brown nailed a mid-range shot and the side raised their defensive effort, showing fighting spirit and aggressive play at the offensive end.

Thorns managed to rebound the ball at their end and break on the visitors, leading to lay-up points for Cox.

Paige Carr added points to the board on the back of a physical defensive effort and the final period ended 17-13 to the visitors.

Barrow now know what National League Division Two is all about and will hopefully build on the experience.

They will start to make the chances count and, as the team gels, displays will improve, starting at Derby Gems.

Scorers: Emily Cox 9, Mollie Stronach 7, Rachel Kerr 6, Paige Livingston 4, Sophie Pearson 3, Paige Carr 2, Ruby Brown 2, Katie Smith 2, Emily Duerden 1.

Tameside Men 88 Barrow Thorns 50

THORNS men travelled to Tameside for their season-opener at Tameside.

They drew first blood, with early scores from Chris Hubbold and Sam Hearty building a slender lead, which was extended to six points by big man Ian Griffiths.

But it was not long before Tameside started to pull back, demonstrating well-worked team plays for easy scores.

Griffiths added some more points and Luke McCracken made a good start, making two from two at the free-throw line.

As the period ended, Thorns were in surprisingly good shape, trailing by just three points at 15-12, though they could have held the lead had their defence been better.

A competitive first quarter should have given them confidence. As it was, everything good in the first period was missing in the second.

Tameside continued to score at will, running well-drilled set plays. Barrow created chances they should have taken, but needed more composure.

Defensive transition was better, but they lost control of their own boards, leading to too many second chances for the hosts.

Hubbold, Hearty and Mike Bowker were the only Thorns to score, and they managed just eight points between them in a dismal 10 minutes where the hosts outscored them 28-8.

After talking things over at half-time, Barrow hoped to put the wheels back on their wagon, but again it fell apart.

This time, a zone press by the home side caused Thorns serious problems. The guards were trapped in back court and sloppy passes were intercepted, the majority turned into points. Panic and a lack of composure were Thorns’ enemies and they struggled to score.

By the start of the final quarter, the game was done, with Barrow trailing 64-29.

They came out fighting and much-improved, playing patient, controlled basketball, making the right pass at the right time and slicing through the Tameside press.

Andy Benn and Hearty both hit long-range shots, and Hearty was firing on all cylinders attacking the Tameside basket.

Griffiths was a nuisance around the home side basket, adding to his tally as Thorns competed well and showed that, if they can string together four controlled, composed quarters, they will match many of their opponents this season.

Scorers: Sam Hearty 15, Mike Bowker 11, Ian Griffiths 11, Chris Hubbold 4, Andy Benn 5, Luke McCracken 2, Matthew Moore 2.