Last updated 15:56, Wednesday, 26 March 2008

MAKING up is hard to do, but whatever it takes and however tough the call may be, such as this Sunday’s trip to Widnes, Whitehaven will have to do it otherwise who knows what might happen next.

Haven’s maligned team let a lot of people down by their abysmal Easter showings, not least new head coach Paul Crarey, who has clearly being going through some mental torment of his own.

Unjustly, Crarey suffered some spectator abuse at The Recreation Ground on Easter Monday but that’s a coach’s lot.

On the other hand, from a group of players who are said to respect him and like his methods, Crarey deserved a lot better at this early stage of the season than two performances which were little more than shameful.

Paul Crarey takes these things very personally, but on Tuesday evening when he was still feeling very much hurt, he told me he wouldn’t be throwing in any towels. He has the backing of the new Board, now it’s down to his players to respond.

So this Sunday, will Whitehaven’s chameleons show the better side of their nature and confound us all by being as bewilderingly good against The Vikings as they were excruciatingly bad in losing at home to the Batley Bulldogs last Monday?

Embarrassingly Paul Crarey has lost his two opening National League One fixtures, a disastrous start, or so it seems.

But didn’t Paul Cullen lose five in a row? And the rest is history. Cullen, now achieving greater things at Warrington, is remembered as one of Whitehaven’s most popular ever coaches.

So will patience be granted in equal portions to another Paul or will he himself run out of patience? Only time will tell.

Cullen and Crarey are credited with blowing breaths of fresh air through the Recreation Ground. Both are passionate and have similar ideals about the way the game should be played.

Fans were happy enough to give space to Cullen, especially as his arrival followed a depressing end to the Kevin Tamati regime, but unlike the former, Crarey doesn’t have the likes of Aaron Lester and David Seeds at their peak and injuries are already starting to take their toll on a smallish squad.

Crarey has had five minutes in the job and, unwittingly, walked into a financial hornet’s nest with the club fighting for survival over the past few weeks.

But with that settled, no excuses now for players fearing they might not get paid. They didn’t really deserve to be paid on Easter Monday.

As Crarey put it: “It’s not about money any more, it’s about putting in performances and repaying the faith. There was no passion, no emotion.”

Indeed, hardly had the ink dried on the rescue deal that has effectively averted a crisis off the field, then the team go and create a crisis of its own on the pitch.

Not only did Haven let down their supporters but, more aptly, those people who have put themselves on the line to pull the club out of the fire and also find the cash to pay the players when the wolves were baying at the door.

If, as we’re repeatedly told, Whitehaven’s players are enjoying life under their new head coach then they need to start firing – and fast.

Crarey admits to giving his players “a rocket” at half-time on Monday, but it was too late. The damage had been done.

It’s all well and good talking about expansive rugby and “getting bodies behind the ball” but any team has to do the basics right and there’s nothing more basic than catching, passing and tackling – areas where Haven were so lackadaisical against Batley.

Perversely, perhaps, it’s as well they go to Widnes on Sunday.

No one needs reminding about Bloomfield Road, the way Haven were humiliated by Widnes in the 2007 National Rail Cup final, but then remember what happened seven days later when Whitehaven went to Halton Stadium? Everybody expected a repeat thrashing, but Haven had a point to prove as they do again this weekend.

Having gone into administration after their failure to reach Super League, Widnes are back in business with a vengeance, winning both their Easter fixtures, away to Batley and, more convincingly, home to Leigh on Monday.

A certain John Duffy was man-of-the-match in the victory over Leigh.

What we don’t want is Mr Duffy making real duffers of Haven. No one wants to see another nap hand of losses and possible drastic consequences.