Skolars suffer at hands of late Barrow Raid (From Haringey Independent)

London Skolars beaten by Barrow Raiders

11:03am Tuesday 22nd May 2012 in Local Sport

London Skolars matched Barrow for a large part of a high paced game, but four tries in the last eight minutes put paid to the visitors’ hopes of pulling off a win against the top-of-the-table Raiders as they fell to a 42-12 defeat The first half saw honours even at 6-6.

Skolars had gone into an early lead when Mike Worrincy finished off a break by Neil Thorman. A further break by Lamont Bryan saw Skolars keep the ball alive as they tried to find a gap in the defence but John Paxton was held up just short of the line.

The home side levelled the scores when Liam Campbell dummied his way through the defence.

A Dylan Skee kick forced a goal line drop out and both James Anthony and Joe Mbu went close.

Liam Harrison put Barrow into the lead four minutes after the restart but Skolars bounced back, with Rob Thomas crashing over from close range and Skee adding his second conversion of the day.

They had to defend their own line, dragging Ryan Shaw into touch in goal, and had a chance to take the lead through a penalty. But they ran the ball rather than kicking for goal and just failed to score a try, with Dave Williams being held up over the tryline.

The visitors may have rued that opportunity when James Finch scored on the left for the Cumbrians, who then moved up a gear. Campbell’s second try was a carbon copy of the first and a shell-shocked Skolars conceded three more tries in the final minutes.

After three trips to Cumbria in seven weeks, Skolars are at home this weekend, entertaining Gateshead Thunder at New River on Sunday.

The Reserves won 28-24 at South London in the first round of the regional cup, with Lameck Juma scoring the winning try in the last minute.