Dews-Buried

Dewsbury Rams 66 - Hornets 10

It's said that the secret to success lies not in how you start, but how you finish. Having begun both halves of this game with second-minute scores, Hornets' performance degenerated into a raging bin fire of errors, missed tackles and soft penalties.

Having seen last season turned around by a win at the Tetley stadium, the hardy band of Hornets fans travelled with optimism - and when Brandon Wood crashed in from 20 metres for Hornets' opening score with only 120 seconds on the clock, there was a brief flicker of optimism. But within five minutes Dewsbury were ahead.

Aging journeyman Liam Finn took his side close, Day picked out Trout arriving at pace and he squeezed in to score. Finn converted the first of his 11 goals (100% with the boot on the day).

Hornets did battle briefly: Adam Lawton's huge break up the guts of the Dewsbury defence came to nought; Shaun Ainscough's try in the corner struck-off for a forward pass. Nothing between the teams for 20 minutes. And then the collapse: Dewsbury grabbing three tries in 12 minutes to seize control of the game.

On the half hour a hit and hope downtown kick fumbled. From the resulting scrum a neat pass from Sykes sent Morton skating through a huge hole. Then Hornets forcing a pass out of the back of a tackle, only for Walshaw to snaffle the ball and stroll 30 metres to score.

With a minute of the half to play - and clinging on until the break imperative - Hornets switched off, allowing Knowles to offload in a tackle that looked all but completed; Day the beneficiary of some frankly awful defending. All Hornets' good work undone: 24-10 to the Rams at the break. Hornets fans looking skywards in frustration.

The second half began like the first - but ended much, much worse.

Hornets pressed early, Scott Moore (sponsored by TLCRF80mins) took responsibility in an attack going nowhere to plunge in and score. Dan Abram the extras and Hornets back at 24-10 with 38 minutes to play.

Then disaster. Hornets shipping four increasingly soft tries in just 10 minutes:  Morris with carbon-copy pushover efforts, Martin twisting round defenders, Garrett a walk-in off a Morton pass. 48-10 with almost half an hour to play. Hornets went into meltdown: Dewsbury gifted six consecutive penalties (as part of a 13-7 penalty count), passes forced, defence in tatters. Day capitalising with a try just past the hour, scoring from close range.

There was brief respite, before Dewsbury went for the big finish with two tries in the last five minutes: Martin taking another easy offload to jog in, Annakin swatting off attempted tackles for 66-10.  With three minutes remaining, the realistic fear was that Hornets would ship 70 points. At Dewsbury. Thankfully, the stadium clock bore no resemblance to the time remaining and Hornets were put out of their misery by the final hooter.

All-up this was a mess. Hornets effectively background scenery as Dewsbury racked up some scary stats: eleven tries, eleven goals; biggest win in 10 years; gifted 13 penalties, Finn hitting his career 500 point mark.

As always we try and wring out some positives, but there were none.

Trying to reconstitute a squad half-way through a season was always going to be a tough ask, but this was just horrible. The most extreme test of faith possible, with no real signs of salvation.

One for the Amnesiacs.

Batley 38 - Hornets 18

In 10 years' time, the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup will be the answer to a trivia question alongside the Captain Morgan Trophy, the Amoco Cup and the Buddies Cup as another half-forgotten Rugby League knock-out competition that got ditched because it got in the way of the real business of league football.

History will show Hornets' involvement to have been brief. Sunday afternoon at Mount Pleasant saw Hornets and Batley spar their way through a low-octane affair in which pretty much everyone involved looks like they could have found something more useful to do. Except Referee Mr Pearson, who joyfully whistled his way through a 9-6 penalty count that, at times, threatened to drag an already slow game to a standstill.

From a Hornets point of view, the damage was done in the third quarter of the game when Batley plodded four tries up the hill in just 15 minutes to leave Hornets chasing the shadow of the ghost of a game that wasn't really there any more.

Batley opened proceedings after just 4 minutes. Hornets had fumbled the ball in their first set, compounded it by conceding a penalty and, off the last tackle, the Bulldogs fed 'The Hardest Working Man In Rugby League' James Brown in for a close range try.

After a scrappy period of knock-ons, cheap penalties and some freestyle interpretations of the laws, Hornets' cogs clicked on a rare foray into Batley territory: Oscar Thomas producing a neat flat-pass to send in his half-back partner Zac Baker. Dan Abram slotted the extras and Hornets had an uphill lead at 4-6.

Hornets responded with a first tackle knock-on.

On the quarter-mark, Batley got their noses back in front when Galbraith picked his way through a retreating defence; Jouffret the conversion for 10-6.

Hornets responded well: a Zac Baker bomb fumbled by Brambani, a little concerted pressure, and Brandon Wood scrambling through defenders to plonk the ball over the line. Dan Abram with the two off the whitewash to regain the lead at 10-12.

Hornets responded by cocking-up the kick-off to concede a drop-out. Luckily Batley couldn't capitalise. And, just when it looked like Hornets would take a lead into the break, Brambani hoisted a speculative kick into the in-goal, where Downs found no challenge forthcoming to score an easy try. Jouffret with the conversion to give the home side a 16-12 lead.

The first 15 minutes after the break were a bit of a disaster, as Batley produced a four-shot combination that effectively sealed the game. On 45 minutes: gifted a fortunate possession at a scrum after having appeared to knock-on, Bulldogs' Hooker Leak sneaked in from acting-half. On 49 minutes: simple interposing was enough to send Brambani skating in. On 54 minutes - having conceded a penalty in possession - Hornets backed-off Manning all the way to the goal-line (32-12). And, finally, Jouffret scoring off a loose-ball after Mr Pearson saw a Hornets defensive knock-on in the build-up. 20 minutes to play: 38-12.

Hornets responded briefly: Shaun Ainscough in at the corner after good hands going right; Dan Abram - again - off the touchline. Consolation: just.

The last 20 minutes played out like an obligation being fulfilled; the game over as a contest and both sides with looking like they wanted out. To add insult to injury, the heavens opened too. A metaphor for the mood.

Having played almost the ideal first-half up the slope, Hornets squandered a great platform for progress in one sloppy quarter - the positive being that we can now focus on the league.

All-up an afternoon to forget.