Another Pointless Exercise
That's Nil. Nothing. Nowt. De nada. Zilch...
... and sweet FA. In two trips to Widnes in a month, Hornets have failed to come away with so much as a sniff of a point. But where Darren Abram's side at least competed for long periods last time, on this occasion they capitulated with a whimper.

We all know that the first team squad is probably down to the bare bones; and we all know that the players have had to take a pay cut. But to play with such shapeless torpor makes watching Hornets a gruelling test at the moment - and one which shows no sign of respite.

So let's get the post mortem of this mess out of the way first. Darren Abram is quoted as saying: "Widnes played the bettfer stuff, but we lacked a lot of options. Simon Svabic pulled out late on and that meant we had to change a few things around and we only had 18 to pick from as we have some injuries. But having said that we were poor today. Attacking, we were poor. And our kicking game was also poor and we need to improve on that. We are going through it at the moment and it's a test of character for us all."

Quite.

If the long-suffering Hornets faithful wanted a test of character on a Sunday afternoon, they'd probably go orienteering rather than attempt to navigate the fug of a season which has so badly lost its way.

The problems identified by Darrren Abram have been pretty much present since the Northern Rail Cup began back in February, but we're still raking them over in July. Whether the heart, the will to win or simply the cash has gone at the club, drastic measures are needed to arrest this slide and prevent the ignominy of relegation.

On paper, we have a capable squad - decent players with good abillities - but they're all homogenised into an unpalatable soup that's becoming harder and harder to swallow. The Hornets fans are notoriously stoic. Having seen far better sides pulped at Naughton Park over the last 30 years, they do travel more in hope than expectation - but they do expect their team to give it a go.

Whilst it would be unfair to suggest that players go out and not try, our shape and patterns of play render decent players impotent and leave them flailing and visibly frustrated.

Indeed, once the team is compelled to improvise on defence, Hornets actually look more cohesive.

With soft tries from Dodd (5), Gaskell (14), Wilkes (17) and Grix (22), Widnes were up with the clock for most of the first half. But Hornets scrambled and scrapped on defence to hold Widnes to a 20-nil half time lead.

Having conceded Widnes' last try after only 55 minutes, the last-ditch covering of the last 25 minutes as the gain line was repeatedly breached provided a micron of chilled comfort for those hardy enough to sit out the game.

On attack, however, Hornets were flaccid - impotently jabbing at a Widnes defence that merely held its line. On the rare occasions that the half backs took the ball to the gain line and shaped to expand play, Hornets flickered briefly, but it was too rare to make a difference.

So, once again, Hornets come away from a weekend's endeavours with a quite literal nothing to show for their efforts. With a rejuvenated Halifax waiting ahead of us, Darren Abram's 'Test of Character' looks likely to stretch the faith of the regulars even further.