Hornets travelled to Hull KR safe in the knowledge that they were safe. With a few niggling injuries throughout the squad, there was little point in risking players in a meaningless game.

Hornets fans travelled in good numbers to celebrate what's been a season of ups, downs, shocks and surprises and - despite the score - warmly applauded every player from the field: even those who spent ten minutes warming the bench after the odd altercation.

Rovers racked up a stack of points early doors from a string of penalties and a try from the traiterous street-fighting convict 016499-Owen; mostly before Hornets had even carried the ball.

But the first foray into Rovers' territory saw the ball moved swiftly at close quarters; Tommy Hodkinson running off Mark McCully's pass to score. 12-6.

Rovers clocked two further tries before half time - but in the interim, Hornets were sucked into Rovers' somewhat uncompromising approach and saw Bobbie Goulding and Liam McGovern sin-binned. Indeed, there were six sin-binnings in this pig-ugly game - two of them in the space of 23 minutes to Hull KR's weasel-featured strop-merchant Phil Hasty.

Half time 22-6; and most of the Hornets contingent basically waiting to get back to the club for the end-of-season-party.

The second half followed much the same pattern. The east stand whinges at every tackle; Bob Connolly mistakes it for the voice in his head; Hull KR get a stack of dubious penalties; Hornets get frustrated; Hull KR get a stack of dubious penalties; Hornets get frustrated... you get the gist.

To be fair, when Hull KR do play football off the back of Mansson's hard work, they look quite useful and on the rare occasion that it happened, big prop Makali Aizue was the main protagonist - cashing in for a hat-trick.

Anyway, Rovers ran in another couple of tries to stretch their lead as the penalty count ticked over to 15-8.

With the game and the season fizzling out, Hornets staged a late rally. Darren Robinson regiostered his trademark half-back sneak on 65 minutes and the Bobster himself put the lid on the season with a cracking 50 yard interception to silence the baying east stand and give the Hornets fans something to cheer.

And... er... that was it, really. The shuffled Hornets team never really found its rhythm and Hull KR played enough cohesive rugby league to capitalise.

But, while nine out of ten Hornets fans would prefer a win, we'll settle for safety in NL1 and the chance to really push on next season. The appreciative ovation at the end of the game was acknowledged by the players as they left the field and the supporters' last contribution of the season was to barrack Paul Owen with cries of 'Judas' as he departed.

And that was that. Goodbye 2004 season.

Win, lose or draw it's been a remarkable journey. We've showed grit, determination and a willingness to dig in. More importantly, Rochdale Hornets has successfully reinvented itself as a club where everyone involved feels like they belong. That's a major success in itself - and really what it's all been about.