The past weeks' glimmers of optimism finally sparked at Spotland as 'New Hornets' quite simply routed Hunslet with a second half performance of pace, power and poise.

Having disposed of a naive Hornets seven weeks ago, Hunslet were reduced to spectators as their rudimentary gameplan of hassle, niggle and spoil ultimately proved hopeless. But for the first quarter, it seemed to be working.

The Hunslet pack - led by rotund nutter Craig Booth - put themselves about with little regard for the shape of the game and, having spoiled it to a standstill, Hornets were happy to break the deadlock with a Sam Butterworth drop goal. Hunslet briefly showed a desire to play some football when Freeman stepped through a statric defence to score, but his effort was cancelled out within minutes.

First Chris Campbell capitalised on a Sam Butterworth grubber - Hawks' fulback Ross making a hash of it, Campbel diving in. Then harworking Janan Billings scored a peach of a sucker try - delaying his move from acting half until the defence had rushed off the line, spotting which way they'd gone then simply going the other. Tries from a yard have seldom been so well executed.

Hunslet's only other contribution was a Danny Wood penalty to close a stuttering first half at 11-6 to Hornets.

The second half bore little resemblance to its predecessor. As Hunslet concentrated on trying to make a 'physical impact' on the game, Hornets got down to the business of playing the football.

Two minutes in, Sam Butterworth skipped across a backpedalling defensive line to find full back Michael Platt arriving at pace to score. On the hour It was Butterworth again, stepping through traffic to repeat the exercise, this time opening up the defence for Paul Anderson to stride through untouched.

Two minutes later, a sweet ball by John Braddish found Platt who showed great balance and pace to score a try of 'Owenesque' proportions.

Hunslet's frustrations at their impotence in the face of the Hornets onslaught began to escalate. Half backs Tawhai and Wood ran in ever decreasing circles, Pryce reduced the play the ball to a stumbling shambles and prop Booth showed just how hard he really is by punching Sam Butterworth square in the face after the pass. About the closest any Hunslet player got to him all afternoon. Pathetic, really.

On 70 minutes, Tommy Hodgkinson - again a revelation from the bench - scattered defenders and his pass slotted campbell in out wide and two minutes later, Hornets closed their account as Hunslet's defence stood and admired Braddish's short kick through, Costello diving through to score by the posts. A fitting end.

Scoring 26 unanswered points in the second half is, in itself, a commendable feat - but more impressive than even the way in which those points were racked up was the stern defensive effort that kept Hunslet much like their gameplan - pointless.

Make no mistake, this Hunslet side are no mugs. Last time out they hammered Keighley who, in turn, hammered Halifax yesterday. And if Bobbie Goulding was looking for a benchmark for his side's progress, he'll be happy with this one.

No doubt, for the first time the 'New Hornets' looked cohesive - playing with a collective confidence that will buoy up the club in the run in to next week's challenge at the Biffs.

There were several stand-out perfromances: Michael Platt looks increasingly solid and comfortable at full-back, coming through the line with ruthless effectiveness; Sam Butterworth showed that, when he backs his ability, he can split defences assunder. And he was ably assisted by John Braddish who had his best game yet in a Hornets shirt at 7 - his distribution and kicking game a key factor in dismantling Hunslet's defence.

Ultimately, though, Hunslet were massively outmuscled by the Hornets pack. Leatham, Costello, Grundy and Hansen all putting in monumental stints at prop; Sturm and returning Price providing no-nonsense monentum from second row. But most impressive was the aggressive, blockbusting performance of Tommy Hodgkinson. Hunslet failed to get to grips with him all afternoon. He knocked them back in every tackle sucking in defenders and setting up vital second-phase ball. He was, quite simply, superb.

"We keep improving. We are on about progression and we're geting better in each game," said Goulding afterwards: "I wasn't happy with the first half, but the second half the lads have thrown the ball about, completed the sets and got a convincing win."

"It was a brilliant team performance". 'nuff said, Bobbie; 'nuff said.