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Haven rested a number of star names, nine of the team that
played at Batley last week, ahead of next Sunday's Powergen Challenge
Cup quarter final and struggled to a 14-10 win over Barrow .The
wet and windy conditions certainly made it very difficult to
play open rugby, while some credit must go to a dogged and determined
Barrow side who were very physical throughout and caused a disjointed
Haven team no end of problems .
It was the visitors who made the early play, robust tackling
and running unsettling the Haaven, and it was no surprise when
a Phil Atkinson try gave Barrow a early 4 nil lead .
It wasnt until the introduction from the bench of Craig Chambers
that Haven got into the game . His support running off Carl Sices
dummy half breaks continually opened up the visitors' defence,
opening the way for a John Lebbon try which Mick Nanyn goaled
and added a further penalty to give a 8-4 lead . This was Haven's
best spell of the game, Ryan Campbell going over but being recalled
for a marginal forward pass and a number of other opportunities
were denied with the ball carrier being held up over the line
.
Just before the hooter Haven extended their lead as Wes Wilson
Spencer Miller and Craig Walsh combined beautifully down the
popular side to send David Seeds in for a cracking try, Mick
Nanyn added the extras as we lead 14-6 at the half .
That was as good as it got for the Haven , the second period
turned into an arm wrestle between two team struggling to adapt
to the worsening conditions. The only score came midway through
the half as McLure touched down to bring the visitors within
4 points of the Haven and give the team an anxious last quarter.
In truth it was the Haven who finished the stronger , with only
a cruel bounce denying David Seeds a second try which would haven
seen the Haven home . But Haven were glad to hear the hooter
and squeeze home in what was a tense Cumbrian derby .
Thankfully no injuries to report , difficult to pick any real
stand out from today's game. Craig Walsh was the official man
of the match , while I though we saw a differant side to Mick
Nanyn today his defence and general graft got Haven out of trouble
on a number of occasions .
Its onto the big one next week, lets hope the weather's better
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