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For the fat end of an hour this game was about as bad as Rugby League gets. Two sides short on ideas, presided over by a referee with only a tenuous grasp of the laws, played in a stadium devoid of any atmosphere whatsoever.

And, seemingly, it suited the home side who got underway after two minutes when ex-Hornet Hasty slid a speculative kick into the in-goal and Aitken got hand to ball ahead of a slow turning Hornets defence.

Then the torpor set in, with both sides jabbing impotently at each other and an unedifying exhibition of sluggish, fumbling football.

Indeed, some may argue that the appearance of the steam train on the adjacent railway line after 15 minutes was the first incident of any real interest, as the only events of notice on the field were the steadily increasing number of penalties.

With Hornets close to nodding off, slack defence allowed Young to slump in from close range and the visiting fans were roused from their slumbers by the sound of distant cheering.

Hornets briefly rallied as some half decent approach play sent Eric Andrews in for a well taken try, but the game's mogadon effect was restored on the half hour when Hasty added a drop goal that had even the home fans yawning and tapping their watches.

With four minutes of the gruelling half remaining, an uncharacteristic knock on by Andrews gave Hornets the defensive field position to commit another offence and gift Hunslet yet another two-pointer. Hornets slunk from the field 13-6 down and strong coffees were in order all-round.

The second half began in a flurry of barmpot penalties: Referee Mr Brooke pulling back a seemingly good Hunslet try to give then a penalty five metres from the line, then handing the Hawks two back-to-back sitters to extend their lead to 17-6.

Then suddenly- out of the blue, in four mad minutes - we had a game on our hands. Chris Campbell snaffled a loose pass to sprint home from 70 metres (Sneyd converting); then Jono Muir hit a short ball at pace to blast between defenders. Carl Sneyd's conversion putting Hornets 18-17 ahead.

Having grabbed the lead, Hornets needed to consolidate. But instead of completeing sets and putting a good kick away, they pushed passes, rushed play the balls and allowed Hunslet back into the game.

On 67 minutes the home side regained the lead after Hasty slotted an inch-perfect, last tackle cut-out pass to winger Childs who dashed in unmarked by the flag.

Despite Hornets regaining the ball from a cleverly worked kick-off, a second tackle fumble handed easy possession to the home side. And when Chapman bumped off defenders to score a soft one - again on the last tackle with Hunslet seemingly out of ideas - the game was up.

Afterwards, Darren Shaw could barely disguise his disappintment: "For the second week in a row it was an incompetent performance... We got beaten by enthusiasm... we were just too inconsistent, instad of taking a tackle we looked for the big play every time."

One to forget, in every aspect.

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