Though defences were on top for the first quarter: both sides locked in a tense tussle as the packs ground out the hard yards in a search of a weakness.

When the break did come, it was Hornets that took advantage of an increasingly lacklustre Whitehaven. Driven downfield by some nifty Craig Dean kicking, Hornets worked the ball up the narrow side; Dave McConnell and Paul King combining to send Lee 'Pogo' Patterson iin at the corner. Kingy sublimely slid the touchline conversion through the uprights.

Five minutes later Hornets again found themselves encamped on the 'haven line; this time McConnell used Matt Firth as the fulcrum of the move and Richard Varkulis picked a good angle to take the ball and crash in to score. King addd the extras and 'Haven looked gone after less than half an hour.

Much of the rest of the half was spent trying to unravel referee Leahy's bedlamic interpretation of the laws, but with the 'haven defence loitering without intent, Craig Dean cooly slotted a drop goal on the hooter to send Hornets in 13-nil up at the break.

Haven began the seconf half with more purpose: Maden's try cruelly giving the fans false hope as - at 13-6 - Hornets hit the gas and replied almost immediately.

On the next foray into 'haven territory, Dean hoisted a spiralling bomb into the visitors' in-goal. Panic ensued and, while defenders flapped around him, Andy Gorski dived in to ground the ball. Mark McCully took over the kicking duties and duly obliged.

Then, on the hour, came the try of the game; of the season; oh, bugger it - one of the great all time Hornets tries.

On the last tackle, Craig Dean took the ball wide on the right, just inside his own half; He feigned the kick, but moved the ball to McCully, who fed Patterson on the touchline; Patterson steamed through the line, but was chased down; as all looked lost (and with the touchline looming), Dean (who had continued his supporting run) was on hand to gather Patterson's pass from the tackle; As defenders scrambled around him, Dean picked a perfect pass to Phil Cantillon who took a sharp left to sprint in by the posts from 20 metres. Quite breath-taking.

McCully slotted the two: 'Haven were gone at 25-6.

Hornets spent the remainder of the game either pushing 'haven backwards with a series of kicks or driving them back with some impressive forward play. It paid off on 68 minutes when Tommy Goulden took a short pass at close range to bulldoze through three tacklers to score.

Lovers of symmetry were rewarded in the 79th minute as Craig Dean slammed home his second drop-goal to bring the curtain down n a superb performance.

Indeed, Craig Dean looked every inch the solution to our half-back problem. Every time he took the ball, he knew precisely what he was going to do with it - and this confidence rubbed off on those around him: the main beneficiary being Matt Firth who looked more easy on the ball, while playing slightly wider from the ruck area to give himself more space to pick his passes. Firthy was taken staggering from the field just after the hour after what looked like a clash of heads, which may give Darren Abram his own headache next week.

Elsewhere, good displays abounded. John Pickersgill made a solid, steady debut after a long absence with injury (though Paul Norman appeared to have picked up a shoulder knock), the back three of Gorski, Varkulis and Goulden played with venom and Chris Giles performed his usual heroics at full-back.

For us, though, the stand-out performer was Dave McConnell. Fitting in at hooker, stand-off and loose forward over the 80 minutes, he showed how doing the simple things really well can give a side cohesion and momentum. McConnell was involved in everything and looked to be really enjoying the challenge. His efforts were warmly appreciated by the Hornets faithful, who now gird themselves for yet another challenge at the Colliseum next week.