But it was the re-shuffled Lynx who started the second half the stronger.
They kept it direct, error-free and simple - five very good drives followed
by a series of challenging kicks behind the Hornets defence. It was ploy
that would serve them well later. But it was against the run of play that
Hornets conjured up the first score - quick hands on a rare attack finding
Sean 'Tommy' Cooper with enough space to squeeze in and score.
The conversion attempt was Richard Agar's last contribution in a nondescript
performance and the fans were visibly buoyed by the introduction of Danny
Wood. His first contribution buoyed them less as he dropped the kick off
under no pressure. Chorley set up camp in the Hornets 20 metre zone and
were rewarded for some tidy direct play, squeezing Kilgannon in at the
corner on the hour. Wilcock converted from the sideline and, just two points
adrift, the Lynx had the upper hand.
It took another moment of Davidson magic to create Hornets' next score.
His steaming run on half way took him through the tackle and an immaculately
executed pass put Pachniuk into acres of space, the hooker finding the
legs to outpace the defence and scoot under the posts.
But still Hornets seemed determined to undo what good work they'd done.
On 65 minutes Chorley had set up good last-tackle field position on the
Hornets 40m line. Duffy shaped to hoist a bomb, but popped a delicate chip
behind a fooled and static defence. The ball was worked to Bloor who, in
turn, lobbed an inch perfect chip into the corner for Kilgannon to score
an excellent try.
Fortunately, Hornets had one last trick in the bag. Having worked the
ball downfield and inch perfect cut-out pass from Danny Wood found James
Bunyan arriving at speed and Hornets found themselves passing the 30 mark.
Game over: Hornets 32 Chorley 22.
On the radio after the game a miserable sounding Martin Hall gave credit
to a hard working Chorley side and said that getting the two points was
the most important thing. And, while you can't really argue with him,
it remains a measure of how far our expectations have come that we still
remained disappointed with this performance. Yes Pachniuk was industrious,
Smith was determined and Davidson did look class - but we lack spark and
sheer drive in too many key positions.
Danny Wood would probably have been the fans' choice at six, but he
looked ring-rusty when he took to the field to replace Richard Agar who
resolutely refuses to test defences with a predictable and uninspiring
kicking game. And Hornets can't continue to depend on Matt Calland's never-say-die
hit-ups when we run out of ideas elsewhere on the park.
Again the centres and wingers had virtually no creative ball on attack and were left to drive the ball out of deep defensive positions
far too often. I'm sure that the squad has sufficient craft, but we're
lacking dynamic graft at the moment and simple go-forward is what we really
need.
And with Oldham coming up next, now would be a good time to address
that one.
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