WHITEHAVEN RL faced a tough defeat when they took on Sheffield Eagles over the weekend. 

The West Cumbrian side took on the South Yorkshire outfit at the Olympic Legacy Park in Sheffield. The game ended with a 78-24 loss for Whitehaven. 

Head coach Jonty Gorley said: "It didn't go very well, we weren't in the game for one minute. It was awful how we were, considering how we'd been against the week before in the second half in total control and getting through our sets at 90 percent. 

"It was about 30 minutes into the first half, and we'd last had the ball at 11 minutes. We had two good ball sets and hadn't completed those, there were errors and we conceded on the back of it. Every time we errored, they scored which wasn't great. 

"Our defence lacked urgency and a bit of desire, we just weren't at the races in the game. The defence was miles off, we need to be a lot better than that if we stand a chance of staying in this league. 

"It was a red-hot day, so we knew it was going to be warm, the team that completed the best-released errors had a better chance of winning the game. When they've had 22 sets and completed 20, and we've had eight and completed three that means that we've done a lot of defending. 

"It's just a snowball effect, and they are a good side even though they've lost their two last games. 

"I can't remember the last time Sheffield lost three on the trot, the last two games they lost were against Swinton and Barrow that we beat. 

"We beat Swinton the week before, and the week before they played Sheffield and beat them away. 

"So, we went to Swinton and beat them and then went to Sheffield and got absolutely hammered. 

"So, the level that we need to be at is not there consistently. We've got a lot of soul-searching to do before we go to Widnes because we can't carry on like this, there's only one way we're going."