WHITEHAVEN suffered more than an opening Championship defeat at Bradford Bulls yesterday.

On their way home the team coach was attacked when a sandbag was dropped from a bridge onto the roof and it crashed through the emergency exit.

Although shocked by the incident, the Whitehaven players and officials were unhurt and continued their journey after reporting the incident to the relevant authorities.

Director of rugby Gary Charlton was not on the coach, having travelled down himself with the kit.

Of the match he said: “I think if it had been something like 14-10 you would have said that was a fairer reflection on the game than 24-8.

“Two soft tries early in the second-half really made the difference, which was a shame because the lads defended really well.

“We didn’t get the execution right when we had a try-scoring opportunity in the first-half and a score then would have made a difference.”

Haven also suffered a couple of worrying injuries as they start to prepare for Sunday’s opening home game against London Broncos.

New full-back Sam Freeman limped off at the end with a hamstring tweak while Jake Bradley had gone off earlier with a knee problem.