But when Eric Andrews hit a peach of a Lee Patterson pass at full tilt to sprint 80 metres and score, Hornets cruelly revealed the the hoax and sent the visitors home with nothing.

The Crusaders started the afternoon with a real bang. On their first possession, Van Dijk hoisted a towering bomb; the usually dependable Chris Giles lost his bead on the ball and, when it bounced to earth, Richards was on hand to touch down. Then on their next foray into Hornets territory, it was Van Dijk again who threaded a pass through traffic to send Quinn crashing through Hulse and Fagborun to score. Ten minutes gone and the visitors ten-nil to the good.

With murmurs of Leigh's unfortunate run-ins with the Welsh circulating amongst the home supporters, Hornets' cogs engaged. On 20 minutes Paul Anderson's scoot into the left centre channel sucked in the defenders and he slipped the ball to Chris Giles who balanced his slate with a well taken try.

Then on 27 minutes, swift thinking and a neat turn of pace took acting half Dave McConnell through a huge hole. With tacklers gathering, he dropped the ball off to Lee Patterson for a sweeping 50 metre try. Hornets back in the race at 8-10.

The last action of the half came from the Crusaders. Having worked the ball to the Hornets posts, a super-quick play the ball saw Cushion crash in to take the visitors in 16-8 up at half time.

Hornets began the second half with more palpable purpose. Some hard, direct running drove the Crusaders' defence backwards; a great break from the irresistable Tommy Goulden and good support from Gary Hulse saw Hornets close the gap to 14-16.

Then began the arm wrestle. Led by Goulden's punishing drives, Hornets slowly got on top of the game. But the Crusaders dug in heroically and repelled wave after wave of forward attacks. Equally, with ball in hand, the Welshmen made good ground; throwing themselves onto a determined Hornets defence.

With both sides jemmying for an opening, it became increasingly certain that the next try would win the contest. On 77 minutes, it looked like the joke would be on Hornets as Fitzgerald plunged over the line, but with Phil hasty and Chris Giles between ball and ground, the Crusaders took the ball back ten metres for their last tackle; Van Dijk kickijng the ball dead in the corner to eat up vital seconds.

With Hornets pinned against their own line and less than a minute remaining, it needed something very special to steal this game. And it duly arrived. From the base of the scrum, Hornets shiopped the ball swiftly to the right; Lee Patterson broke the first tackle and hit the gas; as he was reeled in he slipped a beauty of a pass out the back door to an onrushing Eric Andrews.

Eric hit the overdrive button and, with glory 80 metres away, pinned back his ears. Like all good wingers, he backed his pace to leave a succession of desperate defenders clutching at fresh air; finally skirting the covering centre to plant the ball under the black dot. April Fool indeed.

Everyone in the stadium fell for it hook line and sinker, but when a real knock-out punch was needed, it was Hornets who played their last minute joker.