Haven lose to no frills Raiders as they struggle in the wintry conditions in their opening home clash of the 2020 season .
Having lost heavily at Leigh last week this game was seen as the ideal game for Haven to open their Championship account for 2022 but a combination of atrocious winter weather and a determined Raiders outfit conspired to frustrate the Haven ambitions .
The tone for the first half was set from the start as Haven made a mess of the kick off ,losing the ball and setting up for the Raiders to cross the home line with only 2 minutes played for a converted try Haven nil Raiders 6.
The visitors boosted by that , dominated the next 10 minutes with ex Haven coach Carl Foster to the fore ! On 12 mins Havens Guy Graham put in a high shot on Foster and was given 10 mins in the sin bin , Shaw converted the penalty to extend the lead to 8 nil . The next 10 mins were to prove pivotal as Barrow made full use of their numerical advantage.
Foster and another ex Haven man Ellis Gillam found the gap in the Haven defence to set up a try by Winger Shaw which he converted converted , Haven nil Barrow 12 ,
On 19 Mins Haven allowed Malloudi to run 30 yards through some skinny defence for a converted try , Haven nil Raiders 18 . With wind rain and hailstones lashing the LEL arena Haven now had to play catch up rugby in the worst possible conditions .
Restored back to 13 men Haven defence tightened considerably but on the wet muddy ground Haven half backs just couldn’t create anything so at the half it was Haven nil Barrow Raiders 18 , but with Stack being sent to the bin on 39 mins Haven would have a numerical advantage at the start of the second half .
Haven had to come out for the second half with purpose and indeed thats what we got , However despite being a player down the visitors always had the measure of a one dimensional Haven attack ,
It was Haven who enjoyed more possession and better field position for long periods but the Barrow pack well led by Carl Foster always had the better of their Haven counterparts . On 59 mins Haven gave their fans a glimmer of hope when Conner Holliday went over for an unconverted try toe make it Haven 4 Barrow Raiders 18
The visitors managed the final quarter of the game very professional to make sure their was never seriously threatened . And in the end no one could deny them the spoils as they took two valuable Championship points back down the coast at the end of the game
For Haven lots of effort but not much skill on show as the Haven Half backs struggled in alien conditions meaning good attacking options were few and far between . Official Man of the Match was Callum Phillips though Geronimo Doyle deserves some praise for his enthusiasm and willingness to get involved from Full back
On the evidence of today still a lot of improvement to some from Haven 2022 , That needs to happen soon as they now haven two difficult away trips to deal withe – London Broncos and then Newcastle Thunder