Almost as expected, Hornets made particularly heavy weather of seeing off rejuvenated Chorley Lynx. Martin Hall must be tearing his hair out as his side still struggles to click and, despite his reticence in the post match interviews, he's obviously not a happy chap.

The first quarter of this game gave no hint of the shapeless scrap it would descend into.
Just seven minutes in, Paul Davidson provide the fulcrum in a perfectly executed runaround, Latham Tawhai giving and receiving the passes that saw him leave Chorley's fullback Ramsdale glued to the spot with a nifty sidestep under the posts.

Three minutes later it was Paul Smith blasting onto a short pass into space to score from close quarters and, with both tries converted, Hornets were looking more like the side that finished last season in a cohesive and determined fashion.

But - as so often has happened this season - Hornets didn't so much as go off the boil as fall off the cooker completely. On 20 minutes Chorley - spurred on by the probing of John Duffy and the relentless darting of Safraz Patel - drove the ball close to the Hornets line. Having aimlessly pounded at the defence for five tackles they tried it one more time. Hornets were caught napping and Tim Street crashed in through three tacklers to plant the ball down.

Less than five minutes later it was the same three players who created an excellent try. Street bursting through a weak Matt Long tackle on the half way line and slipping the ball inside to the supporting Patel; Patel gobbling up the yards and sucking in defenders before offloading to Duffy who said 'Ta very much' and sprinted clear to score.

And so it was that Chorley found themselves level and Hornets supporters found themselves shifting awkwardly in their seats. For the remainder of the half Hornets struggled to create any tangible break. Time and again Agar chose to hoof the ball directly at Ramsdale who - on each occasion a) didn't have to move to collect it and b) ran the ball back 30 or 40 yards. After the first couple of times, you'd think that a kick to perhaps the corner or the touchline might be a better bet - but you'd think wrong.

With a ten minute wait in the tea-bar queue rapidly becoming a more entertaining option, Pachniuk spotted Dave Larder running in space and his quick hands provided the pass for him to capitalise and score. Half time Hornets 16 Chorley 12. Not good, given that two of Chorley's key playmakers - half back Jones and hooker Patel - had been forced from the field with injuries towards the end of the half. The 2nd half