Barrow Raiders head coach Paul Crarey admits his players gave themselves too much to do in their defeat to Batley Bulldogs on Monday night.
The Raiders found themselves 8-0 down at half-time, and a try early in the second half for the Bulldogs gave them a healthy advantage.
Further tries followed, stretching their advantage to 24-0, before the Raiders grabbed two consolations through Greg Burke and Jarrod Sammut.
Speaking post-match, Crarey said: “I thought in the first half, we were pretty good. We held on there when we gave a lot of penalties away, and they scored off their third consecutive set.
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“Then we gave a penalty away towards the back end of the first half and we went in 8-0 down.
“We spoke about scoring first [in the second half] and getting within two, or taking two to get within six, and then there was a one-on-one ball steal.
“From then on, it was pretty frantic. We didn’t complete any sets, six errors in the first eight sets of the second half. [We were] chasing the game.
“Only with probably 10 minutes to go did we get a foothold in the game again.
“It was all Batley in the second half, and they showed us how to grind, be patient and play with loads of energy.”
Monday’s result means the Raiders’ winless start to their Betfred Championship campaign continues.
They have drawn one and lost five of their opening six league fixtures.
Crarey has challenged his players to respond quickly, with a home game against Halifax Panthers to come later this week.
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“56% completion, 11 errors – we’re back to the poor stats again. That’s probably down to me and my team, and hopefully we’ll get a reaction when we have Halifax at home,” he added.
“We won’t be favourites there either, so it’s gonna be a tough gig.
“Hopefully we can change momentum and put some points on the board and put a good show on for our home fans.”
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