Last updated at 10:05, Tuesday, 21 August 2012

THE title was there for the taking and Barrow blew it.

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Their worst performance of the season by a long chalk against a Rochdale side with determination and togetherness on their side and a lifeline handed them by Workington’s 28-18 loss at Oldham was thrown back into the sea.

The crown is Doncaster’s now, should they choose to accept it, the ineptitude of Barrow and Workington’s jinx against the Roughyeds – to who they have lost twice this term – handing it to them with only a game to go.

The facts of the matter were simple – Barrow had to win if they were to have any chance of taking the title.

They couldn’t afford to worry about what’s going on elsewhere, they needed to concentrate on their own game and get three points there.

Whatever game Raiders were concentrating on, it wasn’t being played at Spotland.

They took the ball off a clever Andy Ballard kick-off, palmed back by Scott Kaighan into the grasp of Martin Ostler and that was about the only clever thing they did for 80 minutes.

Nothing came of the chance and it was the Hornets who bossed the match.

A Steven Roper kick at the end of their third set with the ball was allowed to bounce by Ballard and it went straight into the hands of a hungry Paul Crook.

Under the posts he went, quick as a flash, but Ballard recovered his footing, got back and stopped him grounding.

A lesson was there to be learnt, but Raiders were skiving from class.

Brad Brennan knocked on trying to clear the lines inside his own half and James Nixon conceded a drop-out, the pressure was all on the Barrow line.

It told as the set immediately following the drop-out saw Roper send Dane Donohue in at the right corner, powering through Nixon and Aaron Low with the eagerness of a starving lion pouncing on its prey.

A 4-0 lead should have been more as Roper’s clever kick from the outside of his boot picked out Crook by the posts and he went over the line.

Yet again, he was denied, this time skipper Liam Harrison the man to wrap him up and prevent a certain try.

But the second score was quick to follow, Martin Ostler knocking on on his own line as he tried to intercept and Roper and Wayne English combining to send in Crook – no-one to stop him making it 8-0 this time.

Nothing could prise Barrow from inside their own half, stuck there by a combination of their own errors and Rochdale’s rock-solid wall in defence.

The news came through Workington were 12-0 down at Oldham – but what good was that if Barrow could not triumph themselves?

Then a gift – the most unlikely sign of generosity from hosts whose stinginess had previously bordered on Scrooge-like.

A loose pass rolled along the Barrow 20-metre line and Liam Finch snapped it up.

He made only 15 yards, but Rochdale’s defence was scrambling and Ballard took that as an invitation to tear it asunder, breaking through from 60 yards out and making it all the way to the line, 8-6 and game not yet over.

Then the lead was Barrow’s, how unlikely had that seemed just five minutes before?

Another loose ball came into the possession of James Dandy, just on for Finch but showing all of his instincts.

He made it to 10 yards short of the line before being hauled to ground, the foundations laid for the swift passing to the right which put Chris Larkin in for 10-8.

Without having created a single chance of their own volition, Barrow were in front. Could the title really be destined for Craven Park?

Town still trailed, now by 18-0 and it was Doncaster who were the main rivals, as they ran in tries for fun against North Wales.

But this was no easy task presented to Raiders, who were still knocking on with almost every set, the forwards failing massively in their duty to stick the ball up their jumpers as they drove it up the middle.

Again Rochdale struck, Andrew Dawson conceding a drop-out to a clever Roper kick and the Hornets half-back then putting Wayne English in with a reverse pass training ground move.

Barrow lost Andy Bracek to a right knee injury as half-time loomed, the news of Town’s 24-0 deficit doing little to lift the spirits of a side looking distinctly second-best.

That was the way after the interval too, a break by English on the left wing paving the way for Jonny Leather to outstrip Kaighan and open up a 10-point gap.

Town were coming back in the second half by this point, Doncaster were home and hosed, Raiders needed something to spark them into life.

They were given a lifeline as Ballard poked a kick to the corner and Shaw landed on top of the ball for 20-14, but they rejected a second offer of help.

Chris Hough lost the ball 15 yards from his own line and Aaron Low was there to pounce. He picked up and fed Dan Toal, but the loose forward found no way through and knocked on playing the ball five yards out.

More knock-ons followed, Shaw handing Hornets the ball inside his own half and was then bundled into touch after Larkin had sent him away down the right wing, failing to come inside when the covering defence swarmed around him.

A pass from dummy half on the Rochdale line by Liam Finch went straight into the feet of a Hornets man, if it could go wrong, it was going wrong and there were less than 15 minutes left.

Yet, here was another try for Raiders, a Kaighan kick to the corner well taken in the air by Larkin, who grounded and made the gap just two.

But Shaw’s day with the boot was a poor one. Normally so accurate from the touchlines, he could not get the measure of the wind and the rain and his effort sliced across goal. Hornets still led going into the final 10 minutes.

Town were still well behind too – by 12 points in fact – but that meant nothing at all as things stood.

A drop-goal attempt from Roper was now charged down and Barrow took possession as Rochdale knocked on, but the home defence had rediscovered its fortitude as the clock ticked inexorably down.

The deal was done four minutes from the end as Roper kicked the ball to the corner and James Nixon was caught not so much in two minds as four, letting Dane Donohue fall on a ball he had no right to reach.

Barrow Raiders were offered the title on a silver platter yesterday afternoon, instead they regarded what was in front of them as carrying a bad smell.

The title is gone, second place is probably out of reach. This was not a good day for Barrow.

First published at 16:20, Monday, 20 August 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk