IT was a disappointing result at Spotland, losing 20-8 to Rochdale Hornets. A good opening 30 minutes but then our mistakes let the Hornets back in and they took full advantage, writes Raiders Review columnist Tony Colyer.

Apart from the opening day win at Batley we have struggled to find form and the worrying aspect is we haven’t played anyone who was expected to be in the top half of the division yet.

Rochdale and Swinton were pre-season favourites for relegation, but the former gained their first points of the season by beating us and the latter have been losing by narrow margins recently, so their visit to Craven Park in a fortnight will be competitive just like it was last season.

Yes, there is undoubted talent, but the team have to start performing because tomorrow it’s Widnes Vikings at Craven Park and next Saturday it’s Toulouse Olympique in France.

Some serious opposition awaits us and although it’s early days I know the supporters are a little concerned on whether we have the strength of squad to compete against the top sides based on what we have seen thus far ?

Any team can beat any team as demonstrated by the magnificent performance of Dewsbury. Last week I said Dewsbury would probably struggle in the bottom four following their performance against us, but after watching them against Toronto I’ve changed my mind. They were totally dominant throughout the game and deserved to win handsomely, but the Wolfpack somehow managed to sneak victory with three converted tries 22-17.

Tomorrow should be exciting against ‘reborn’ Widnes, but despite the seven-strong consortium takeover the club were forced to cut costs in order to survive which involved losing three of their key players in Adam Tangata, Krisnan Inu and Wellington Albert.

Star hooker Liam Hood also left and joined Leigh because he didn’t want to stay full-time, but he was immediately replaced by ex-Raider Dom Speakman, who had been trialling with the Vikings during the close season.

Last week in front of over 6,000 fans they beat Featherstone Rovers 44-22 after leading 22-0 at half time.

It was an unbelievable result considering all of the turmoil encountered and sending a message to the rest of the Championship that they are still to be taken seriously despite a 12-point deduction being imposed by the RFL. They still have quality players such as Jack Owens, Anthony Gelling, Harrison Hansen, Hep Cahill too.

It’s looking like there may well be over 1,000 Viking supporters tomorrow so the atmosphere should be very special. Barrow are struggling at the moment and need the area's public more than ever to see us through this difficult period.

Your team needs you!