But this was much more than just a defeat. This was an embarrassing public surrender that left Hornets hardy followers wondering not so much where the next win was coming from, but where their next try was coming from.

The first 40 minutes were an impotent mess. Neither side gathering the wherewithal to play any open football, and both defences closing ranks to nullify what little threats appeared.

The only respite from the tedium came as both sides traded flapping, wayward penalties. At this stage, the flame of desperate hope still flickered in the Hornets camp as resolute defence withheld three consecutive Sheffield offensive sets. But the longer the half wore on, the more it became apparent that neither team had a break in them.

The torpor was broken with the half-time hooter iminent. With a Sheffield attack seemingly going nowhere, Brown fed Reid just past half-way and he shrugged off some poor tackles and outpaced Bolu Fagborun to score. The conversion missed, the home side led 4-0 at the commercial break.

Sheffield started their second half with an early penalty for a hgh tackle and, once Svabic had been deemed 'held-up' in Hornets first meaningful attack, Hornets declared and put Sheffield in with almost half an hour to play.

Almost immediately, the Eagles launched an attack. Neat passing through the right-hand channel saw Brambani chip the ball over Fagborun. As the Hornets winger turned to gather, he stumbled, fumbled and lay helpless as Hurst gathered the loose ball to touch down. Only the long conjecture of the video ref and a questionable knock-on decision denied Sheffield the try.

As the game crawled past the hour mark it was becoming increasingly clear that the team with five minutyes' worth of lucid football in them would take the spoils. And what a five minutes Sheffield had.

On 66 minutes Ford finished off a simple 'run-draw-pass' move to extend the home side's lead. Three minutes later it was Woodcock stepping past sleeping tacklers on a jinking 50 metre dance to the line; two minutes later Brambani hoisted a teasing chip into the Hornets in goal where defenders stood rooted as Lindsay dived in to score.

The game - and Hornets - truly dead an buried at 24-nil. With the game in the bag, Sheffield sat back and watched Hornets chug aimlessly around the meadow, much as they had for the last 75 minutes. Truly, truly awful.

With visiting fans clogging the exits long before the final strains of the hooter had faded, this was an ignominious night for Hornets. A showing of such shameful ineptness that garnered even fewer positives than Sunday's debacle at Leigh.

After Darren Abram's apology in Wednesday's Observer, the faithful may well have anticpated a rallying performance, but they were sorely disappointed.

And what they'd like to know - as is often asked in televisual sporting circles - is what happens next?