Hornets Cheer - As Barrow Choke

Hornets 24 Barrow 18

It was a robust and clinical Hornets that finally torpedoed Barrow's chances of winning CC1. Hornets were as inventive, determined and enthusiastic as Barrow were, frankly, soft - and, with the scoreline flattering a flaccid Raiders, Hornets turned in a supremely cohesive performance.

Not once in 80 minutes did title-chokers Barrow breach the Hornets defence under their own steam. Of their four tries, three came directly from Hornets errors and the scrappy fourth from a last-tackle kick. Indeed, under a relentless pounding from the Hornets pack and a dual aeriel bombardment from Crook and Hough, Barrow spent most of the afternoon going backwards.

With the early exchanges played in the visitors' half, Wayne English's wriggling run on 7 minutes mesmerised the defenders sufficiently to create space for Dayne Donoghue to crash through and score. And within minutes, Donoghue was again tormenting the Raiders - this time unzipping the defence for Paul Crook to sail through for a well-crafted try.

With Barrow going nowhere, Hornets set-up camp in the Raiders' 40, causing havoc in the ranks and forcing repeat sets with a series of teasing in-goal kicks. But it was Barrow who got the lucky break: a ball squirming from a Hornets hand, a freakish bounce and two tries in quick succession from Ballard and Larkin to give the visitors an undeserved lead.

But Hornets didn't panic. Working the ball back downfield, Steve Roper found Wayne English on a looping crossfield run, the defence bammboozled as he ghosted through a huge gap to score. Hornets in front at the break by 14 to 10.

Hornets began the second half playing high-tempo, high impact football and it took Barrow just six minutes to succumb.  English again scampering across the face of a panicking defence, hitting Jonny Leather at pace for him to scoot in at the flag. Fantastic stuff. For good measure Paul Crook slotted the extras from the touchline.

Barrow again capitalised on a Hornets error for Shaw to score and, eventually, scored a try of their own making when a kick hit more in hope than expectation pinballed through a crowd of bodies for Larkin to find himself in the in-goal with the ball. 

But it was Barrow's last hurrah. In the final 20 minutes Hornets gave no quarter, repeatedly compelling Barrow to start under their own posts; their only hope a stream of lead-footed hoofs downfield. And with a punch-drunk Barrow desperately flailing, Hornets ended strongly: Crooky's dink into the in-goal causing the pre-requisite panic; Dayne Donoghue keeping his head to plunge through and touch down.

Ultimately, this was a commanding performance and a terrific win - demonstrating just what this Hornets side is capable of. Indeed, on yesterday's evidence, there was only one side on show that looked capable of competing at a higher level. And it wasn't Barrow.

Look Out, Here Come: Barrow

And now, the end is near and so we face the final… er… home game of 2012. How time flies…

It's been a long, frustrating, circuitous road and, having looked nailed on to gain promotion from Champonship 1 as champions, Barrow seem to have a dose of the yips. A 48-34 defeat to Workington at Derwent Park last week has pulled both Town and Doncaster right back into contention with two games running - and Worky have a game in hand!

With Town left with Oldham, Gateshead and Hornets to play, there's a palpable swing of momentum away from Craven Park - which will make Darren Holt's side even more desperate for a win at Spotland.

In fact it's a bit of a Cumbrian exodus on Sunday - Barrow at Hornets, Town at Oldham - so the A627M axis could play a major role in deciding which of these two Cumbrian clubs gets the £50k prize money for winning the league - if only by influencing their respective points differences.

But Holty's being philosphical about the possibility of Barrow chucking away the title.

“To be honest we’ve been a bit down in the dumps. It was a bad result, but also it was a disappointing performance. It was a game we could have won, never mind got a bonus point from. It was one of those days when nothing went right for us and it wasn’t a great performance."

Ah, it happens to the best of us, Darren. But he does appreciate that his strategy of recruiting the very best of local talent has turned Barrow around: 

“We’ve looked back to where we were at the start of the season and how far we have come since. Expectations have risen as we have gone on, and to be honest, the game against Workington was the first time where the players haven’t done themselves justice, as they have done through the course of the season."

But, while Holt talks up his team's chances, between the lines you sense that Barrow's ship has sailed: “… in the whole scheme of things it has been a very successful season and we are not out of it yet. There is a still a chance. It’s out of our hands now … we need to look forward and just hope that someone else does us a favour, and that if we look after ourselves, things will take care of themselves.”

On the home front, we heard last night that ten players from Hornets and South Wales Scorpions have been charged following the… er… frank exchange of views just before half time last Sunday.

Gary Middlehurst, Phil Braddish and Chris Hough have been charged with Grade C fighting offences while Steve Bannister and Dayne Donaghue have been charged with Grade B fighting offences.

But South Wales' fighting, it seems, is considered less serious - Luke Kell and Nathan Mossop charged with Grade B fighting offences from the same incident while Joe Bullock has been charged with a Grade A fighting offence.

South Wales’s  'Mr Angry' Dom Crosby has also been charged with a Grade B head-butt head-butt on John Cookson while substitute Jason Howells has been charged with a Grade C offence for entering the field of play to punch Houghy in the back of the head.

In a strange way, the end of the season can't come quickly enough - and for us it does come a week early. After Monday's Barrow report, TLCRF80mins will be pulling down the shutters on the 2012 season. We'll miss the Workington game because we'll be somewhere else next week - great planning on our part :D

Hope you've enjoyed the resurrection of TLCRF80mins, we'll be open for business through the close season with our proudly biased view of all the news that's fit to blog. Cheers.