NEW Ravens felt the strain of playing two games in a week as an under-strength side suffered an 86-0 home loss to derby rivals Telford Raiders.

With the team hit hard by late withdrawals and the fact they had they had already played a tough game against Northampton Demons in a rearranged match on Wednesday, which they lost 72-4, the Finstall Park-based outfit were so thinly-stretched the clash was played as a 10-a-side.

The game started off badly from the kick-off as Ravens fumbled the ball just 10 metres from their own line on the second tackle and the Raiders were quick to make good and put an early score on the board to give them a 4-0 lead.

The Ravens held on for another 10 minutes without conceding and went close to scoring after Sean Flynn made a great break down the left-hand side only for the ball to be put down from the pass by the receiving player with the line begging.

But Telford went to score five more tries as they powered into a 36-0 lead at half-time.

The second-half was one-way traffic as the Raiders scored 10 tries against a tired and injury-ravaged Ravens side.

When the hosts did take possession they showed they could move the ball about and were denied by a tenacious Raiders defence.

The stand out player for the Ravens was Flynn, who made good yardage each time he got the ball.

They now have a week to recover from their exertions and tackle Leicester Storm away in the Rugby League Midlands Division One on Saturday.