By DOUG THOMSON
THE RFL have admitted a mix-up over red-card regulations led to Barrow completing their Championship game at Halifax, which they lost, with a player less than should have been the case.
However the governing body say the result will stand (Halifax won 38-12 to move further away from the relegation zone and leave the Raiders too close to it for comfort).
A fracas following the try early in the second half which enabled Halifax to take an 18-12 lead led to Barrow’s Brett Carter being sinbinned and Delaine Gittens-Bedward, a substitute who was not on the pitch at the time, being shown a red card.
Barrow were told that as a result of the dismissal, they had to remove a player from the field, so for the next ten minutes had only eleven, then for the remainder of the match, twelve.
It should have been twelve, then back to 13, with Barrow questioning the situation the day after the match eight days ago (Sunday, August 11).
The RFL said in a statement: “The match officials department confirmed to Barrow Raiders on Monday that an error had been made.
“The RFL Board subsequently considered Barrow’s objection to the result. Under operational rule B2:12, there is no discretion and the result stands.”
Meanwhile Barrow have confirmed the addition of five new directors to their board to join chairman Steve Neale and Jayne Stewart.
Andrew Bache, Keith Jackson and Rupert Pritchard were voted on by club members at an extraordinary general meeting while Suzy Garnett and John Hesketh were co-opted at a board meeting.
Bache is a retired finance director and Jackson a former council auditor while Pritchard works at BAE Systems, with experience in business development and project and programme management.
Garnett owns local film company Redrock Productions, and has extensive experience in media and marketing, while Hesketh has switched from Swinton Lions and will work closely with Barrow’s community foundation.
Neale had been aiming to bolster the board as he works towards maximising the club’s IMG points rating.
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