BETFRED CHAMPIONSHIP

London Broncos 56 Barrow Raiders 12

IN assessing Barrow Raiders’ first game back in the Betfred Championship after a four-year absence, which ended in a chastening 56-12 defeat to London Broncos, there are several factors which must be considered.

The first is that their season will not be defined by this game nor, indeed, the result.

True, a 44-point defeat and opponents racking up more than a half-century is not the start anyone would have wanted, yet this clash with one of the division’s full-time teams was one few expected the visitors to win.

The second factor is that the first 40 minutes had seen Barrow holding their own against the Broncos and trailing by just 12 points at half-time thanks to some sterling defence, while the final score was given a somewhat lopsided look by three tries in the final five minutes when they had just 12 men on the pitch.

The fact is a part-time side with a playing budget of around £300,000 is not realistically going to beat a full-time opponent spending £1m on their squad with the aim of again being among the sides battling it out for a place in Super League come the second part of the campaign.

That is not for lack of trying though, and while the differences in the top and the bottom of the Championship were, at times, laid bare in the encounter at Ealing’s Trailfinders Sports Ground, the travelling Barrow fans gave a rousing reception to their players at the final hooter.

There were times when Raiders were guilty of causing problems for themselves though, particularly during one spell in the second half when they gave away a string of penalties for high tackles and were perhaps fortunate referee John McMullen did not see fit to go to his cards.

Some of that can be put down to fatigue after impressive work to keep London at bay when the hosts had possession of the ball. After all, defending is harder than attacking, both physically and mentally.

There were times as well when little mistakes which they may have got away with in League One last year were seized upon immediately; a knock-on here, a misplaced pass there.

Those are areas which can be worked on, and mistakes which can be learnt from, however.

Perhaps though, the biggest illustration of how brutal and unforgiving life can be in at the next level up though came in the form of game-ending injuries suffered by Declan Hulme and Lewis Charnock.

Centre Hulme was forced off after suffering with double-vision in the second half, while goal-kicking scrum half Charnock left the game in the final 10 minutes with all of Raiders’ interchanges used up after his shoulder popped out. It may require surgery.

As alluded to already, this just shows the disparity between the top and bottom of the second tier.

After all, Swinton Lions were on the end of 46-12 loss in Toulouse Olympique in their first game of the year.

It is matches against the likes of Swinton, Rochdale Hornets and Sheffield Eagles which will be key for Paul Crarey’s side’s hopes of retaining their Championship status.

So, while there are lessons to be learned from this defeat and improvements to be made, it is important to try to find some positives going forward.

One was the fact Andy Litherland made it through the match unscathed in his first competitive outing since last May, having featured in pre-season following a recovery from a back injury. Not only that, but the former Walney Central amateur was in the thick of it all day long too.

That included forcing a drop-out from a Jamie Dallimore kick in the opening stages of the game which saw both sides fairly evenly matched.

Indeed, it took two pieces of magic for the Broncos to unlock the Raiders defence for their first two scores.

The first saw James Meadows evade two would-be tacklers for a converted try on 12 minutes.

The second came from ex-Workington Town half-back Jarrod Sammut 10 minutes later, who produced a cross-field kick out of nothing, which was fielded by former Barrow loanee Ben Hellewell to send Rhys Williams over out wide for another converted score.

Unforced errors from London, including two forward passes, saw Barrow gain some ascendancy, and the pressure paid off when a penalty led to stand-off Dallimore darting through the defence for a try which Charnock converted.

But the Broncos’ response was swift and led to Daniel Harrison crashing through for another converted score five minutes before the break.

When play resumed, the home side began to turn the screw.

Penalties started to mount against Barrow, fatigue started to set in, and the relentless London pack made some huge inroads, with Kieran Dixon scoring the first of his two tries on 52 minutes after the ball was worked along the line from a tap penalty.

Eddie Battye bullied his way through the Raiders defence for a converted try two minutes later, followed by Sammut plucking a high ball out of the air to get in on the try-scoring act on 67 minutes.

Further tries from Mark Ioane, winger Dixon, Matt Davis and Alex Walker in the final 10 minutes put some extra gloss on the score for the Broncos, although Barrow did at least have the final say with the last play of the game after Ryan Fieldhouse chased down Dallimore’s kick to score.

London Broncos: Alex Walker; Rhys Williams, Will Lovell, Ben Hellewell, Kieran Dixon; James Meadows, Jarrod Sammut; Tom Spencer, James Cunningham, Mark Ioane, Daniel Harrison, Jay Pitts, Matt Davis.

Interchange: Eddie Battye, Sadiq Adebiyi, Matt Gee, Sam Davis.

Barrow Raiders: Ryan Fieldhouse 6; Shane Toal 6, Declan Hulme 6, Andy Litherland 7, Brett Carter 6; Jamie Dallimore 7, Lewis Charnock 6; Joe Bullock 6, Dean Parata 6, Alec Susino 6, Jono Smith 7, Jarrad Stack 7, Martin Aspinwall 6.

Interchange: Nathan Mossop 7, Tom Walker 6, Glenn Riley 6, Dan Toal 6.

Referee: John McMullen.

Raiders star man: Jarrad Stack: The Australian second row was an absolute man-mountain in the face of some relentless pressure from London Broncos, tackling everything that moved and never taking a backwards step.

Next Game: Barrow Raiders v Toronto Wolfpack, Sunday, 3pm.

PLAYBACK

12 MINUTES: James Meadows try, Jarrod Sammut conversion, 6-0.

22 MINUTES: Rhys Williams try, Sammut conversion, 12-0.

31 MINUTES: Jamie Dallimore try, Lewis Charnock conversion, 12-6.

35 MINUTES: Daniel Harrison try, Sammut conversion, 18-6.

52 MINUTES: Kieran Dixon try, 22-6.

54 MINUTES: Eddie Battye try, Sammut conversion, 28-6.

67 MINUTES: Sammut try and conversion, 34-6.

70 MINUTES: Mark Ioane try, 38-6.

75 MINUTES: Dixon try, Sammut conversion, 44-6.

78 MINUTES: Matt Davis try, Sammut conversion, 50-6.

79 MINUTES: Alex Walker try, Sammut conversion, 56-6.

80 MINUTES: Ryan Fieldhouse try, Dallimore conversion, 56-12.