On Saturday I went to the Abbot Hall gallery in Kendal to see ' Love, Desire, Faith' - an exhibition of the works of 20th Century British artist Stanley Spencer. Whilst hugely talented, Spencer lived a disappointing life - constantly searching for a passion to match his own and ending his days unrequieted.

The parallels with Sunday's miserable effort at Craven Park are obvious. For the second consecutive week, the Hornets faithful hauled themselves up to Cumbria - at not inconsiderable expense - for the love of their club. And whilst the team that wears their jersey ran in increasingly pointless circles, their frustration came close to boiling over as they were given an object lesson in the benefits of desire. And even as the afternoon seeped desperately to an end, they maintained a hopeless faith that just five miniutes of cohesive football would be enough to see them home.

Like Spencer and his exploitative, disastrous relationships - they were teased a bit first.
Hornets started brightly enough, pressing for an opening close to the Barrow line. Unfortunately, the 30 yard cut out pass from Warren Ayres was cut out by Darren Holt who fed winger Jamie Marshall who said 'Ta very much' and ran 70 metres to score. Holt missed the conversion, but made up the difference five minutes later with a penalty.

But Hornets continued to toy with the favours of their supporters - Smith jinking and dummying througyh from close range, Wood converting. Six-all after twenty minutes and the Hornets fans nodded approvingly and awaited further progress. How foolish of them.

Hornets tossed away parity with a try befitting a Norman Wisdom film. Henderson broke clear and his attempted pass to Leigh went to ground at the feet of Matt Long. Instead of dropping on the ball, Long hoofed it back past a stranded Owen and - amidst a scramble of bodies - Irabor touched down, Holt converted. 12-6 - very, very embarrassing.

Hornets' bemused supporters fully expected a Martin Hall rocket-up-the-arse to have done the trick, but - like Spencer and his expectation that each new relationship would bring him the outcome he desired - they were very, very wrong.

Two minutes in, 12-6 down, Hornets camped on the Barrow line. The raiders conceded a penalty and - rather than take a set of six within striking distance, back themselves to score and get back on terms - Hornets elected to take the two points and merely reduce their deficit.

It's the second time in two weeks that Hornets have resorted to this patently barmy tactic.

Six points adrift, what's the point of simply chipping two points off the debit? As it was, on 52 minutes, a try in the corner for Marshall stretched the lead to 14-8, making the penalty look just as stupid and pointless as it did the week before.

On almost the next foray into Hornets territory, Holt made Barrow's intentions perfectly clear as he hit a drop goal attempt wide - and with five minutes remaining, the Hornets defence gave him ample time to position himself, line-up the kick, have a brew and slam home the point that gave the raiders the game. Great play from Holt - who bossed this one from start to finish.

And so it was that the Hornets supporters dragged themselves back to their cars for a long and gruelling journey home. Disappointment is easier to live with if you know that you've given of your best and failed. But at the aptly named Craven Park, Hornets plumbed new depths of apathy and incohesion.

It's fair to say that they didn't produce one passing move in 80 minutes and, whilst Barrow gave it 110%, Hornets played a less involved spectating role than the fans who made the trip.

Love, desire, faith - expressions of passion evidently lacking in this miserable display. And with Featherstone waiting for us next week, all the faithful can really hope for is a vast improvement.