IT was a day Adam Ford will remember for the rest of his life, but there was little else which will live long in the memories of anyone else associated with Barrow Raiders from yesterday's match against Oldham.

The 17-year-old winger's try, which saw him 70 metres from inside his own half down the touchline of Craven Park's Popular Side with over 1,000 fans roaring him on was one of the few high points as the hosts opened pre-season with a 24-10 defeat.

That score had put the Raiders in front with 10 minutes gone and was just reward for a promising start. Yet handling errors and loose passes started to mount as the game went on, with Oldham punishing a below-par display.

There were, of course, extenuating circumstances. Barrow head coach Paul Crarey had only named a 17-man squad, with Martin Aspinwall, Nathan Mossop, Tom Loxam and Dan Toal all rested due to minor injuries.

Mossop's absence was particularly telling as it meant the Raiders were without a specialist hooker – half-backs Lewis Charnock and Ryan Johnston rotated there – with fellow nine Wartovo Puara Jr an interested spectator, having only just arrived in the country on Friday along with fellow Papua New Guineans Stargroth Amean and Willie Minoga.

How Crarey must have wished he could have them on the pitch for longer than their brief appearance at half time to be introduced to the club's supporters.

Credit too must be given to Oldham, who settled down after giving away a few silly penalties in the opening 20 minutes to produce a professional performance – despite missing five players too.

The important thing for all associated with the Raiders to bear in mind though is it was just one game, and pre-season results have little bearing on the year ahead.

Even so, Crarey bemoaned what he felt was a lack of enthusiasm from his side after the break and he wants to see an improvement when Whitehaven come to town.

There had been promising signs early on, including when new boys Deon Cross and Jake Spedding put together a superb move down the left wing which almost caught Oldham out.

And the breakthrough came from Furness Raiders wide-man Ford, who was the beneficiary when the visitors spilt the ball and it was recovered by Bradd Crellin, who passed to Declan Hulme for him to send the Walney Central product streaking clear.

Unconverted tries from Ben Calland and Zack McComb – the second coming after a knock-on had led to a scrum in Barrow's 20 – put Oldham 8-4 up at half time though, followed by Scott Law charging over five minutes after the break following one of three goal-line drop-out his side forced.

McComb and Matthew Wilkinson capitalised on lapses too, with David Hewitt converting twice.

There was at least something positive to end on for Barrow though as 20-year-old stand-off Jake Carter got his first try for the club following a high kick from Johnston.

Barrow Raiders: Tee Ritson; Adam Ford, Declan Hulme, Jake Spedding, Deon Cross; Jamie Dallimore, Ryan Johnston; Tom Walker, Lewis Charnock, Glenn Riley, Jono Smith, Bradd Crellin, Jordan Walne. Interchange: Jake Carter, Ryan Duffy, Danny Morrow, Charlie Emslie.

Oldham: Ritchie Hawkyard; Aaron Jones-Bishop, Kyran Jones, Jack Holmes, Zack McComb; David Hewtt, Anthony Bowman; Philip Joy, Gareth Owen, Scott Law, Liam Bent, Ben Calland, Jack Spencer. Interchange: Matthew Wilkinson, Jamie Greenwood, Luke Nelmes, Harry Maders.

Referee: Brad Milligan.

Attendance: 1,119.

Playback: 10 – Ford try (4-0); 30 – Calland try (4-4); 33 – McComb try (4-8); 45 – Law try, Hewitt conv (4-14); 56 – McComb try (4-18); 71 – Wilkinson try, Hewitt conv (4-24); 77 – Carter try, Dallimore conv (10-24).