THE must-win game turned into a disappointing defeat at fellow strugglers Rochdale Hornets.

For the second away game on the trot, a 12-0 lead wasn’t enough and the sending off of Jarrad Stack for a dangerous tackle on the half-hour-mark appeared the turning point.

It was Hornets' first victory since September, when they defeated Swinton Lions 16-8, and it takes them out of the bottom two in the Championship, as Swinton and our Challenge Cup opponents tomorrow Sheffield Eagles are still to gain a point.

As predicted, the survival battle appears to be between four clubs, Barrow, Sheffield, Swinton and Rochdale, so this was a significant setback.

It's early days, but we appear to struggle when key players are missing. Jamie Dallimore and Lewis Charnock were badly missed and they will be missing for a few games more, so we need to sort that situation out.

In-form Glenn Riley and Brett Carter didn’t play, but hopefully will be available this week.

Another disappointment was the attendance; even with the usual 50-plus Raiders fans, there were only 414 in the stadium, which for a Championship game is a disgrace.

How can you function on crowds like that?

Apparently, it was a battling display, but Hornets then took control after the break thanks to five unanswered tries, and three conversions from man-of-the-match Lewis Palfrey.

I couldn’t attend as I was on duty at the Doncaster v Whitehaven game. Doncaster won 44-6 and I think Whitehaven are going to struggle.

It was the first time I have been to the 15,200 all-seater Keepmoat Stadium, and I was very impressed. If only we could develop something similar.

Tomorrow, it's Challenge Cup 4th round action against Sheffield Eagles, in the first of four definite games against them; the second is next week for a league encounter.

Sheffield stalwart and now director of rugby Mark Aston must be frustrated as they are another club having to come to terms with a reduced budget.

However, they signed influential half-back Simon Brown until the end of the season and have impressive ex-Raider Matt James as captain.

The Eagles played at Wakefield last year, but last week returned to the Steel City to play at the their new ground at the Olympic Legacy Park, in front of 863 fans.

Although they were beaten 44-10 against Toronto Wolfpack, Aston saw encouraging signs.

Games with Sheffield are always competitive, and tomorrow will be no exception, but at fortress Craven Park we should win and get into the fifth-round draw for a money-spinner against one of the bottom-four Super League clubs from last season.

I had to laugh when I saw the Backchat programme with former Salford owner Marwan Koukash, saying he is looking to launch a new Super League club in Cumbria, proposing the same model I proposed 10 years ago when director of Barrow.

Koukash dubbed his proposed new club the Cumbrian Lakers (I don’t think so) which would be a new entity, with Barrow, Workington and Whitehaven maintaining their independence and operating as feeder clubs.

Just like 10 years ago, progress depends on the outcome of the revised RFL structure I mentioned last week, and whether franchises are going to be reinstated.

If so, it’s an idea worth exploring with the relevant stakeholders, just as I did back then; the difference this time is that there is a potential investor with plenty of money interested.

I have therefore written to Marwan inviting him for an educational chat.