Once again, Hornets played their Sedgley Park 'get out of jail card', as a storming second half performance swept the game from Swinton's grasp.

Indeed, the Lions completely dominated an error-strewn first half where Hornets' handling bordered on the ludicrous at times.

And Swinton capitalised. A dropped ball in the left centre channel saw ex Hornets Ball and Hulse unzip a static defence for a simple try after just 6 minutes. And just 5 minutes later, the Lions were gifted possession again: this time it was Bamford with the try. Both efforts converted and the home side up with the clock.

Hornets eventually strung a series of plays together and, on 20 minutes Andy Marsh shrugged off tacklers to crash in. Simon Svabic coverted and Hornets seemed - at last - to be in the game.

This was reinforced on 25 minutes: Paul Alcock unable to ground the ball, and Mark Brocklehurst scoring from the resultant 10m restart following some good hands out wide. Svabic was unable to convert, but at 12-10 the game suddenly resembled a contest.

But Hornets reverted to their earlier torpor - with fumbles and coughed up possession. And, seemingly, the harder they tried to stem the rot, the worse it got.

A grateful Swinton took full advantage. Firstly McGovern jinked through for a converted try; then McGovern turned provider as his tricksy kick took a shocking bounce that saw Craig Bower slip. Hull touched down; Hawkyard converted and a frankly shambolic Hornets trailed 24-10 at the break.

I'd love to have been a fly on the wall in the Hornets dressing room at half time, but whatever was said did the trick.

Within a minute, Paul Alcock had blasted a huge hole through the centre of the Swinton defence. As he sprinted away from the cover he had support both sides. As the fullback closed he slipped the ball inside to Martin Ainscough who scooted away under the black dot. Svabic converted.

With referee Mr Halloran struggling to assert his authority (indeed, his touch judges are to be commended for effectively refereeing this game for long periods), both teams had players sin-binned for dissent. And it was Swinton who regained their shape quickest; Billy touching down a Hulse kick for the corner. At 30-16, Hornets sizeable support reasonably assumed that the game was gone. But three tries in 8 minutes delivered a nail-biting denouement.

Firstly, Chris Spurr touched down after some good approach play; then Sam Butterworth's break from an Alcock pass took play 50 metres upfield. With tacklers around him, Sam laid the ball back *nion style and Chris Spurr gathered at pace to score. Amazingly, with 9 minutes remaining, the scores were tied up at 30-all.

In a desperate attempt to steal the game, both sides exchanged impotent drop goal efforts. But on Chris Hough's second attempt, the ball crashed against the post, landed in the in-goal where the Lions' Hamilton looked to have defused the situation. But in his attempt to run the ball clear, it squirmed from his grasp - falling at the feet of the grateful Martin Ainscough, who touched down. Hornets in front with seconds remaining. Svabic securing at least the draw by adding the extras.

But Swinton had one last play in the bag. Regathering a short kick-off, the ball was worked to Billy who found enough space to squeeze into the corner. Hawkyard's conversion faded short as the hooter sounded and Hornets had secured the most unlikely of victories.

Afterwards, Bobbie Goulding was circumspect. "We shouldn't be putting ourselves under so much pressure. We weren't at the races today. We trained well duting the week, but when they put their boots on, that's where it all goes wrong." And he promised: "... I will address that next week and make changes."

While pragmatists will insist that win's a win, those of us who saw repeated collapses under pressure last year will have found consolation that at least this side doesn't give up and doesn't know when it's beaten. And at this early stage of the season, that's as good an indicator of progress as we could possibly hope for.