In what was probably a rather good game for the neutral, Hornets finally hit the buffers, running out of steam against an Oldham side that'd been there before and had the decisive edge.
But early on the signals were so different. Hornets were 10-nil up within 10 minutes.
A crashover try from Danny Sculthorpe and a neat Latham Tawhai chip
gathered and touched down in one fluid movement by Sean Cooper(left) - who was
removed from the proceedings after gathering the resulting kick off,
following a quite disgusting attack in the tackle that left his nose all over
his face.Oldham got on the board after quarter of an hour - Rich setting his stall out for the afternoon with a penalty - and a minute later Brennan slumping in from a yard. Rich converted. Hornets took the ball back up the other end and Robinson registered his weekly regualtion sneak try.
On half an hour, Marlon Billy brought the home crowd to its feet as he skinned the pedestrian Joey Hayes and left defenders in his wake as he steamed in from 30 metres to break the 60 year old tries in a season record. Magical stuff. Three minutes later Matt Calland backed up a Paul Owen break and ran over the top of Anthony Gibbons to score.
Only the faultless boot of Pat Rich kept Oldham in touch - capitalising on a penalty count so absurd as to be suspect. Of course we'd never suggest that Mr Gamson was operating to some ulterior agenda, but 10-2 makes you think a bit.
Hornets started the second half much like the first, Danny Wood(left) scoring from
a neat short ball from Scully, and when he also slotted a penalty after Leo
Casey had attempted to kiss Darren Robinson in a minor scuffle, Hornets
looked home and dry.Unfortunately, we'd all not reckoned on Oldham's tactical double act of Hough and Ford. Their entry into the fray on the hour turned the game irretrievably. As Hough took big yards up the middle and Ford began directing his troops around the field, Hornets struggled increasingly. First Casey crashed in, then winger McNicholas found space wide out. Then Ford worked a huge overlap for Henare to score and Hornets were reeling. Rich continuing his flawless performance with the boot put Oldham level and it was only a matter of time before the killer blow came. And it came from Ford who buried the drop goal on the run. But saving the most Hornetsian moment for the very last, with three minutes still remaining, Danny Wood failed to send the kick off 10 metres. Oldham took the ball deep into Hornets territory and Henare ran in unopposed to seal it. Awful.
The Hornets supporters sat in stunned silence as Oldham - underscoring Hornets by five tries to six - carried the day on the back of some pinpoint place kicking by Pat Rich and a 13-4 penalty count that gave him ample opportunity to practice. But it's not all that simple. Mike Ford played his tactics absolutely perfectly and Hornets had no reply. The Game breaker in my mind was the moment after about an hour where Danny Wood failed to score after gathering a chip over a static defence - a try then would have killed the game. But it wasn't to be.
Amidst the disappointment, everyone at Hornets can be proud of our achievements this season. We've come up an almost vertical learning curve and laid a major foundation for the future. For once we have good players on longer contracts and a coach who can coax perfromances out of them. Martin Hall will have learned an awful lot this term and he - and we - will be better for it next time.
In the (semi) final assessment, we didn't expect any of this this season. We'd all have been happy with sneaking in the eight and experiencing the playoffs. Everything post the regular season has been a massive bonus and we've shown what this club can do. The countdown to the Law Cup starts here! Enjoy your summer and wear your Hornets shirt with pride. Onward Hornets, Onward.