Attacking up the Boundary Park slope, Hornets' Northern Rail Cup campaign was underway after just 7 minutes when Simon Svabic picked his pass to slot Lee 'Pogo' Patterson in untouched. Shocked into life, Oldham's defence worked hard for the remainder of the quarter, but fell asleep just long enugh on 20 minutes for Mark Blanchard to slump in for a one-yard sucker try. Kev King converted; 10-nil Hornets.

Five minutes later it was Svabic again who led Hornets upfield; his raking 40-20 pushed Oldham backwards and he gleefully slammed home a drop goal to extend Hornets' lead.

11-nil down, Oldham started to play a bit. Good approach work saw the home side gain three repeat sets close to the Hornets line; the pressure eventually telling when Crabtree's cut out pass squeezed Wilkinson in at the corner.

Right on the hooter, Oldham repeated the act; this time it was Roden putting Smith in to send Hornets in 11-8 up at the break.

Through a combination of bad luck, curious refereeing and some creative appraoch play by Oldham, Hornets spent much of the second half on defensive duties, as Oldham struggled to turn their surfeit of possession into points.

Good scrambling defence by Hornets kept the home side's close range drives at bay, but it was Wingfield who blew Oldham's best chance to gain the lead when - with a four to one overlap outside him - he chose to cut back inside where the Hornets defence smothered him to the ground.

In contrast, Hornets seized every chance with relish. On 50 minutes, 'Pogo' Patterson blasted through tackles on the half way line. Leaving chasing defenders in his wake, he cooly slotted supoprting winger Eric Andrews in for his first Hornets try. Andrews left the field shortly afterwards with a terribly dislocated finger that left most around him feeling decidedly queasy.

At 17-8, the game became an arm-wrestle: Oldham with the lion's share of possession, but lacking composure in the last ten metres; Hornets working hard to clear their lines, forcing Oldham back downfield courtesy of Svabic's boot. It was a classic battle of attrition.

With time ebbing away, it looked increasingly likely that Oldham would earn themselves the 'loser's point' under the new scoring system, but the game had one moment of quality left in the tank.

Phil Hasty carved a huge hole in the home defence and slipped the ball to Bolu Fagborun; Bolu scampered downfield pursued by the Oldham backline and, with tacklers looming, he released an inch-perfect cross-field grubber into the path of Dave 'Jock' McConnell who gathered to score. 21-8 and Oldham denied the point. Kev King slotted the conversion and, on the next attack, Simon Svabic knocked over his second drop goal to seal matters at 24-8.

While not a freed-flowing classic, the game did have plenty of positives. Hornets looked significantly more cohesive than previously and the defensive commitment to nilling Oldham in the second half was admirable.

Certainly, the inclusion of Simon Svabic's kicking gives the side an added dimension; and Tommy Goulden's accomplished handling and non-stop effort gives the pack real momentum.

There's no doubt that there's plenty of room for the improvement that comes with regular football, but a win at Oldham is a good place to start.