Indeed the afternoon had started as it was set to finish - Hull KR's first possession from the kick-off returned 80 metres down the park by McClarron only for him to be bundled into touch just short of the line.

Hornets did briefly show willing to compete - immediately taking the ball upfield where Cantillon, Bradish and McCully strung together a series of passes for Price to crash in. It was a short-lived lead.

On five minuutes Rovers' storming prop Tangata-roa took the ball close and a well-timed reverse pass sent Webster in.

Hornets responded well - expansive passing found Sam Butterworth who finished well in the corner after 10 minutes. McCully slotted a superb conversion from the touchline and Hornets were 12-6 to the good.

With just 11 minutes gone, little did the Hornets contingent even imagine that this would be their team's last contribution to the scoreboard, as Hornets dropped anchor and watched the remaining 69 minutes drift past them.

As Ford out-jumped an exposed Butterworth to claim the try that levelled the scores, Hull KR turned up the intensity as Hornets fell apart, conceding a string of needless penalties that edged the game beyond their reach.

By the time prop Smith strolled through some frankly lazy defence from a position of no danger on the half hour, Hornets body-language told you everything you needed to know. And as Hornets left the field at half time 24-12 down, their slumped postures and dropped heads were tantamount to an acceptance that there was no way back.

If Hornets were to salvage anything from this game, it was imperative that they scored first: so as Hasty wriggled through after 43 minutes to stretch Rovers' lead, the travelling fans steeled themselves for a difficult second half.

As Hornets struggled to find anything approaching cohesion - awful passes going to ground; mistimed runs and at times chaotic panic football that lost more metres than it gained - Hull KR kept the scoreboard ticking over at regular intervals: Webster's drop goal at 30-nil; McClarron's gather and scoot to score and Rivett's 80 metre blast through the centre of a disinterested defence racking up the points. It was painful to watch.

At the hooter - and in several cases long before - Hornets fans simply turned on their heels and left; the performance warranting no appreciation whatsoever.

Darren Shaw was left to try and make sense of it all: The disappointing thing is that we're saying the same things to the players week-in and week-out and we're getting the same response. It's disappointing from our point of view." And from ours, mate.

There's no doubt that the early season spark has deserted Hornets, leaving a team low on confidence and, simply, struggling to play any meaningful football. But this is exacerbarted by the fact that players don't look like they have it in them to turn this slump around. While I remain convinced that players don't go out and 'not try', when it looks like no-one's arsed, you have to ask why that's the case.

I wouldn't think we could sink much lower than this. But with the late shift game at Whitehaven in a fortnight, even the hardiest of fans will be questioning their ability to expose themselves to another performance like this one.