A NOTABLE contingent of Craven Park regulars were not in attendance for yesterday's pre-season encounter with Oldham due to heading to Tenerife for a week, although those Barrow Raiders fans who did show up may well have wished they were sunning it up in Spain too.

Indeed, so cold and wet was it that Raiders pair Alec Susino and James Duerden needed treatment from the club doctor afterwards due to suffering with hypothermia-like symptoms, and new arrival Dean Parata sprinted straight from the field into the warm embrace of the shower with his kit still on when the final whistle sounded.

At least the 606 hardy souls who did show up – including a handful from Oldham who were stood on the open Duke Street terrace in the first half braving the conditions – saw the home side triumph 16-6 to make it two wins out of two in pre-season.

Given the appalling weather and increasingly heavy ground, it is little surprise large parts of the match were simply five drives and a kick, meaning Barrow props Glenn Riley, Susino and Ryan Duffy saw plenty of the ball.

To their credit though, the home side did try to shift the play at times as well and while it was not successful, it did yield two tries from centre Declan Hulme, who was the beneficiary of passes from Lewis Charnock and Matty Holmes thanks to some excellent support play.

And when the time came to defend, Barrow held firm against a relentless Oldham side which matched their physical presence with power. They were only undone towards the end of the first half from a kick and that converted try from Phil Joy proved the visitors' sole score.

Beforehand though, Raiders head coach Paul Crarey may have been scratching his head as to what sort of team he would be able to put out after Nathan Mossop, Joe Bullock, Andy Litherland and Dan Toal were all struck down with illness.

So bad has that situation become, in fact, the rest of the squad may well have flu vaccinations in an effort to avoid anyone else being afflicted with less than two weeks to go before the 2018 Betfred Championship season gets under way.

The good news is the Raiders have the depth these days to be able to cope with such an issue as a look at the team-sheet indicated. It also meant Duffy and Parata both got plenty of minutes under their belts on their first outings, while prolific Furness Raiders try-scorer Adam Ford did well in his cameo appearance after the break.

Both sides had opportunities to break the deadlock early on, with Riley being held up just short of the Oldham try-line and then the away side having a potential try from Matthew Reid ruled out after he was deemed to be offside from a kick.

Charnock, whose kicking game proved key to keeping Oldham pinned in their own half for the first 40 mintues after forcing two drop-outs and kicking a 40/20, opened the scoring on 26 minutes though when a grubber from half-back partner Jamie Dallimore hit the post and he dotted down.

The scrum-half duly converted his own score and then turned provider when he made a break before passing out wide for Hulme to get his first of the afternoon. This time though, his conversion attempt from out wide was unsuccessful.

Oldham did manage to hit back four minutes before the interval thanks to Joy's try and a conversion from Paul Crook, although they could not find a way through after the break – coming closest when Chris Barlow could not quite chase down a grubber kick to the corner before it went into touch.

Hulme put the seal on the win in the 76th minute, streaking clear from 30 metres to score under the posts and give Charnock a relatively simple conversion after being set up by Holmes.

The Raiders now prepare for a Cumbrian derby at home to vanquished League One play-off final opponents Whitehaven this Sunday, which gives Crarey the final chance to tinker and tweak his side ahead of the first Championship game at London Broncos on February 4.

Barrow Raiders: Ryan Fieldhouse; Shane Toal, Declan Hulme, Tom Loxam, Brett Carter; Jamie Dallimore, Lewis Charnock; Alec Susino, Karl Ashall, Glenn Riley, Jono Smith, Bradd Crellin, Martin Aspinwall. Interchange: Dean Parata, Adam Ford, Ryan Duffy, James Duerden, Matty Holmes, Luke Cresswell.

Oldham: Kyran Johnson; Benjamin West, Zack McComb, Matthew Reid, Chris Barlow; Paul Crook, David Hewitt; Phil Joy, Matthew Wilkinson, Adam Neal, Craig Briscoe, Danny Bridge, Adam Jones. Interchange: Kenny Hughes, Harry Maders, Joe Martin, Luke Nelmes, Danyal Rasool, Jack Spencer.

Referee: Marcus Griffiths.

Attendance: 606.

Playback: 26 – Charnock try and conv (6-0); 32 – Hulme try (10-0); 36 – Joy try, Crook conv (10-6); 76 – Hulme try, Charnock conv (16-6).