PAUL Crarey was pretty candid as he watched Barrow Raiders capitulate away to Toulouse Olympique in Saturday's Betfred Championship clash.

Toulouse were impressive without really breaking into a sweat and there can be no disputing the best team won.

But of particular concern to Crarey were the injuries suffered by Barrow, which saw them play the closing stages a man down.

"I thought we played well first half, we lost two players early with Jono Smith looks like he's fractured his cheekbone and we've got Jake Spedding with a hamstring," said Crarey.

"We had to change things around. We then used three subs in the first half, then lost Tom Walker with a groin strain as well as Star Amean with a head injury, so we finished with 12 men for the last 15 minutes and lost Jarrad Stack in the sin-bin.

"We defended our shape well, but couldn't deal with the offloads and only having one sub to rotate in the second half was always going to be a big ask."

The travel logistics are a perennial problem too, with Crarey revealing the details of the journey.

"We started off at five o'clock on Friday morning and we got to France mid-afternoon and drove here from Carcassonne, spent the night in Toulouse and came here to play," said Crarey.

"It is a difficult trip and we spoke about it before the game just how difficult it is for a part-time team as opposed to a full-time team, and some times you end up like a punch-bag, but that's the nature of this division.

"But that's what we signed up for, to come and grind out results and beat the teams around us, but it does take a lot out of you. Finishing the game with 12 men isn't ideal when you have another tough game the next weekend."