Anyone who made the trip to Hunslet would have been sent reeling by a wave of deja-vu.

Hornets kick off, opposition pins us back in our own half courtesy of a big kick (this time from a needlessly conceded penalty) and from the ensuing set of six the opposition scores a soft try in the right corner. Hornets 4-0 down before we've even touched the ball. As Peter Roe once said: that's a ****ing good start.

And it set the tone for the afternoon as Hornets once again failed to spark against a Swinton side that lacks any real firepower.

Hornets only effort in the first quarter was a Wood penalty after 15 minutes and with both sides reduced to aimless huffing and puffing, there was little to get excited about, despite the fact that Hornets spent three consecutive sets of six wandering up and down the Swinton 20m line seemingly looking to hand the ball over.

After 21 minutes, the Lions' defence was bored to the point where it nodded off just long enough for Richard Pachniuk to slump in from a foot. Danny Wood converted. Hornets 8-4 and supporters raised from their slumbers by the sound of someone clapping. By the time Woody kicked a penalty right on half time, the brightest of supporters had already rushed off for the comparative excitement of the tea-bar queue. 10-4. Hmmm.

For the second week running Hornets came out looking more interested. Agar and Tawhai started taking on the Swinton defence and gaining yards; Pachniuk was scooting from acting half; Matt Long broke into a walk.

First a neat flat ball sent Danny Wood flying through a gap - Mr Silverwood was the only man in the ground to think it was forward. But on 45 minutes, Hornets managed to get a pass past his beady, non-seeing eye. Pachniuk broke from acting half; Tawhai in support; short ball to Agar; try by the posts. It really was that easy. Woody converted and at 16-4 Hornets' supporters prepared for the deluge. But it never came.

Swinton, to their credit, upped the pace. Dean and Fitzpatrick probing, pushing and creating a huge hole for O'Shea to stroll through. With only 10 metres to cover for a certain try, he opted to pass inside, the ball went to ground and Hornets were off the hook.

As the game dragged towards its conclusion, Dean continued to steer Swinton forward, gaining credit for his efforts after 70 minutes as he prised open Hornets' defence to send in Nanyn for a try. Wingfield converted.

As it was, Hornets supporters waited until the last five minutes for the highlight of the game - Marlon Billy making a mug of the big-mouthed Jason Roach to score from a Smith pass. Woody completed a good afternoon with the boot to convert. Game over.

Let's not mince words - this was a stinker. Hornets never got out of neutral and stumbled around the park looking lost for the most part. Positives were hard to find, but Woody had a solid afternoon and Casey Mayberry looked ten yards faster than anything else on the field when he appeared off the bench for what looks like a seriously injured Brendan O'Meara.

Martin Hall said, "... we've a lot to improve on before next week at Oldham. Sometimes we lacked a bit of composure." That - and direction, penetration and guile. Again, Hornets didn't really show the confidence to take on the opposition defence. On the rare occasions that we did, we carved them open, made yards and looked a far better side. One supporter commented that he never though't he'd hear himself say we missed Andy Ireland - and I'm with him in this one. Andy's relentless go-forward at least pushes teams backwards and we lack that at the moment. He's got to be in contention soon.

On what was a weird weekend in the NFP, Hornets failed to create a real impact. Teams that we've beaten unconvincingly put our performances in perspective. Leigh ran 68 through Hunslet; Batley sneaked home against York. And in a league where Chorley can beat the fancied Whitehaven to sit five places above Oldham and Gateshead can take a point out of Featherstone the real contenders should be up and running by now. Having scored fewer points than some teams below us and conceded more than the team in 10th, we need to click - quick.