Faced with Hornets' poor one-on-one tackles, a defence that refused to slide as the ball was shipped wide and a chartitable cock-up in their own in-goal, Smith, Miller, Calvert, Duffy and Seeds all capitalised - the pick of these from Duffy following a sweeping passing move that tied Hornets in knots.

By quarter past three, the now muted Hornets following were contemplating the long trek back to civilisation as their team resorted to one-out football interspersed with quite shocking passing.

The only glimmer of football came after half an hour when Lee Pogo Paterson took the ball wide on the right flank and stepped through several tackles to sprint 70 metres and score.

The half time hooter came as blessed relief, but the second half started much like the first. two quick-fire tries from centre Jackson put the game to bed before the hour mark - his hat-trick try coming up just seven minutes later. The only respite in this was another good individual try for Lee Paterson who took on his opposite number from close range to score, Kev King hitting the target from the touchline.

With the game in the bag, Whitehaven declared. While Hornets dragged themselves through the ever deteriorating motionsl, the home side contemplated a tricky away tie at Leigh. But - as if to prove that this game of ours has a wicked sense of humour - the biggest cheer of the day cam as the news filtered through that Batley had perfomed the near impssoble: winning at Leigh to gift 'Haven a home tie next week.

Ah, what could have been... but - after a rollercoaster season - this really did look a game too far for a weary looking Hornets. But, as Darren Abram was keen to point out afterwards: "To hhave finished fifth in the division and to have reached the playoffs is a fine achievement and showed what we can do."

Indeed, if we search for any crumb of comfort in the wake of this low-key end to the campaign, just bear in mind how much Leigh have spent to get knocked out of the playoffs at the same stage as us.

It's a funny game for sure. Enjoy the close season - see you all back here in March!