BARROW Raiders Ladies head coach Amanda Wilkinson said her side came up short despite giving their all in a bruising 68-0 defeat away to Leeds Rhinos.

Speaking to the club’s official Facebook page, she said: “We talk a lot about preparing the girls well and being mentally focused, and going out and individually being the best they can.

“I think they were (against Leeds), but it wasn’t good enough.

“We knew it was always going to happen, and I think Leeds are just a really strong physical team.

“The difference between the two teams was just the pace of the game and we just couldn’t keep up with the pace of the game.

“We had an error right from kick-off and they found a way in. And they just kept coming.

“We spoke at half-time about making less errors, and just keeping focused on what we were there to do and keeping the basics right.

“I think we had little spells in the game where we took a little bit more control so credit to them they stuck it out for 80 minutes and gave it everything they had.”

Wilkinson admitted her side would need to pick themselves up and learn from Rhinos’ demolition.

She added: “It’s always tough to take. It’s hard isn’t it? You look at a scoreline of 68-0 and it’s not easy to take on board.

“I feel a little for the girls. I don’t think they deserved a 68-0 at all. They showed great attitude and had each others backs, and they worked hard.

“But games like that the girls will take a lot away from it.

“They will learn a lot from it, a lot more than they would have if they’d had smaller defeat.

“They know now that’s where they need to be. They need to be as fit as that and be able to play at that pace otherwise there is going to be more games like that.

“So we need to go away and work on things an get ourselves fitter and faster.”