JUST what is going wrong for Barrow Raiders at present? It is a question which is easy to ask, but one which does not have any simple answers.

Yesterday's 20-8 defeat away to Rochdale Hornets in the Betfred Championship will have left fans scratching their heads, not least because the Raiders made such a superb start and were ahead after four minutes as the Lewis Charnock high kick to Jarrad Stack led to Stargroth Amean scoring an unconverted try.

But much like the previous week's draw at home to Dewsbury Rams, Barrow were unable to capitalise on that. This time, however, there would be no coming back to earn any spoils.

The obviously answer to the question is to point to errors, several of which the away side came up with either by trying to force passes or knocking on in inopportune positions, with Rochdale utterly ruthless when it came to taking advantage of those slips.

Dual-registered Salford Red Devils player Adam Lawton, Ben Moores and Liam Carberry all made sure of that, each of them bursting through gaps and powering over for tries. Ex-Raider Dan Abram landed three conversions and a penalty as well.

But Rochdale came up with errors of their own in the wet conditions, so it is not just that.

Maybe, then, it is down to Barrow's players putting too much pressure on themselves when things are not going their way, thereby leading to them trying to force things to happen. Certainly, that is what head coach Paul Crarey believes is leading to his side to go away from doing the things which serve them well.

Why would they do that? While one would be reticent to simply blame it on bad luck, that is playing a part.

For example, there was the moment the ball slipped from Martin Aspinwall's grasp as he reached for the try-line which would have put the Raiders eight points up with the conversion to come.

Then there was the moment Jamie Dallimore – a man who has made innumerable pressure kicks for Barrow – put wide a penalty which would have made it 6-6 early in the second half.

Dallimore, too, can feel hard done by for play being called back for a scrum to Barrow 10 metres out in the second half after a knock-on when he was away and under the posts.

Indeed, you could even posit the theory there is not a lot wrong and if the Raiders can stick to what they do well then it will not be long before they are back to winning ways.

They got those little wins Crarey has often talked about yesterday too, forcing Rochdale to drop out from behind their own line three times. Unfortunately, it did not translate into more success.

At least Amean's two tries, the second finished eight minutes from time in a similar manner to the first, and Luke Cresswell's lively showing on his return after nearly a year out are tangible positives to move forward with.

Rochdale Hornets: Dan Abram; Shaun Ainscough, Jordan Case, Paddy Flynn, Brandon Wood; Stu Howarth, Tyler Whittaker; Sitaleki Akauola, Scott Moore, Matthew Davis, Lee Mitchell, Ellis Gillam, Harvey Livett. Interchange: Adam Lawton, Patrick Moran, Ben Moores, Liam Carberry.

Barrow Raiders: Luke Cresswell; Deon Cross, Jarrad Stack, Jake Spedding, Stargroth Amean; Jamie Dallimore, Lewis Charnock; Tom Walker, Wartovo Puara Jr, Josh Johnson, Jordan Walne, Jono Smith, Martin Aspinwall. Interchange: Nathan Mossop, Bradd Crellin, Willie Minoga, Glenn Riley.

Referee: Greg Dolan.

Attendance: 514.

Playback: 4 – Amean try (0-4); 25 – Lawton try, Abram conv (6-4); 49 – Moores try, Abram conv (12-4); 62 – Abram pen (14-4); 67 – Carberry try, Abram conv (20-4); 72 – Amean try (20-8).

Raiders star man: Stargroth Amean.