O/T Barrer Raiders.

[thedoc]

I did some work on Walney recently and part of the payment for it was two free tickets to watch Barrow Raiders Rugby League Club entertain local rivals Workington Town on Sunday September 3rd 2017. I’ve never been to a Rugby League game before although I was tempted to go to Lawkholme Lane to watch Keighley when I was a postgrad at Leeds University and was living in nearby Oakworth during the 1980s. I don’t fully understand the rules of either Rugby codes but my old pal Mark does. He drove as well (the trains between Barrow and Carnforth were all cancelled today because of a strike) and I hope he enjoyed it: I certainly did...

We stood on an ancient terrace with cast iron pillars holding up the wooden roof and the smells of smoky fat from doughnuts from the adjacent Tea Bar, the occasional whiff of fags being illegally smoked by at least one fan near to us and everything about the place reminded me of being with my dad when I was very small at Morecambe’s lost and lamented soccer ground, Christie Park, in the 1960s. Just like then though, there was a really good atmosphere there and the banter – much of the shouting was from women of whom there were quite a lot of various ages among the 1000+ crowd - was often quite funny as well. I had a pint in a plastic glass in my hand and lots of the fans were drinking – the club bar in the corner was open throughout the match too.

So both on and off the field, there was tremendous entertainment today. I was expecting what the late great Eddie Waring would call `a bit of feeling to creep in’ at some point but it only took seven minutes for the first brawl and sin-binnings to occur. During the second half, Barrow’s first try was greeted by a free-for-all and shortly afterwards, the first `early bath’ of the day was headed for as Town’s Macauley Davies attempted to remove Dan Abram’s head without the benefit of anaesthetic: it was an appalling tackle. More handbags were exchanged after this incident and the recipient of unwanted attention to his upper regions was also sent off for retaliating, albeit only for ten minutes. I’ve always known that Rugby is a tough game but some of the antics we saw made you glad to be on the safety of the terraces instead of on the field. After what seemed to be a regulation tackle, for instance, Barrer’s Brett Carter was pinned to the floor by one of the opponents and was clearly seriously dazed when he finally shakily got to his feet: it seemed to me that the Town player was using his forearm to constrict Brett’s windpipe. Blimey.

Seeing Rugby Up Close and Personal made it make a lot more sense. League is in constant motion partially because of the Sixth Tackle rule but also because players are off side if they are on the wrong side of the ball at any time and therefore soon scuttle out of the way after tackles. I also didn’t really understand the fear of the `knock on’ either: early on, one of the Barrer lads mishandled the ball when trying to catch it and was immediately penalised: other players used their feet to control the ball when they doubted they could handle it cleanly. But Barrow were basically too strong for the opposition and were 24-0 up (4 points for a try; 2 for a conversion and 1 for a drop-goal) just before the hooter sounded for the end of the first half only for Workington to score an unconverted try right at the end to make it 24-4.

After they had a man sent off, Workington actually got on top for a while and scored a couple of tries, the second one ignored by the man who manually adjusted the scores on the ancient scoreboard in the corner of the ground. Every time Barrow scored, a tape of a corny tune played at football grounds across the world was played; when a conversion went over, they played Blur’s `Song 2’: very American Football; very corny; very Rugby League. Oh – and whoever was responsible for the score was named by the PA announcer along with the priceless information as to who was sponsoring him... But Barrer belatedly got their act together and scored the best try of the game plus a few other bits: the final score was 36-14 although if you look at the BBC’s version of the match, (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league ... RLP3964148) it was actually 26-10 for reasons I simply don’t understand: maybe they’ve never been to a Rugby League Match before either. ..

(I’d looked at the result of the wrong game in fact so it’s all my fault but who cares?)

So a great day and Bragging Rights to the Raiders, who are now third in the league. Oh – but that’s according to the BBC as well so god knows what position they actually are in reality (Only joking Auntie – or `only choking’ as Brett Carter might say if he was able to). It was so good, I will definitely go again. A final big thankyou to Steve Rea, club legend and coach and Dave Kendall, who arranged all this. See you in Superleague, Lads...


Photos:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =3&theater

[BerlinWaller]

Phew, thought our Dumbrian neighbours had invented long boats and were setting sail when I saw the title!

[Westgate Wanderer]

Phew, thought our Dumbrian neighbours had invented long boats and were setting sail when I saw the title!

I'd be more worried seeing as they build nuclear submarines!

[thedoc]

Took the words right out of my mouth. Behind the stand immediately to the right from where we were standing, the huge BaE sheds which are visible from this side of the Bay loomed over the ground. When I thought of the destructive power of just one of the things they build in there, I considered booking a one way ticket to North Korea: if ever our Barrer cousins come across the water in one of them, it would probably be safer there...