The more cynical felt had they attempted to do so they would have missed. Such was the catalogue of errors by Hornets that many of the wounds were self inflicted.

He said: "I have my little girl’s seventh birthday party in May and I am looking for children’s entertainers at the moment. And there are one or two who spring to mind after that performance, one or two who will spring to mind when I book that.

Mayfield started slowly and the Widnes stand-off took advantage of some slack defending to cross for a converted try.

On a blustery day, the visitors played with the wind at their backs in the first half and used the wide areas well.

McGovern, who is a prolific goal-kicker, will bring lots of experience to John Stankevitch’s young squad.

The two sides were evenly matched for much of the game and Myton were hanging on to a slender six-point lead at the time.

Mr Kettleton was born and raised in Whitworth, the son of a well-known local painter and decorator.

Irlam started strongly with two tries in the opening six minutes and dominated the game throughout.

It was no surprise that Selby opened the scoring with their giant second rower plunging over from close range for his first of four tries.

The kick off was delayed due to the kit van breaking down and the club would like to thank Ben Boothman of Rochdale Cobras for supplying replacement equipment at short notice to enable the match to take place.

While this was no disgrace for the underdogs, it was disappointing, for it was a game Hornets could have won.

While the French champions were firm favourites to win the match, the home team squandered an opportunity to pull off a shock win.

And tomorrow, Hornets will strive to win through to the fourth round, which sees the Super League clubs in the hat and offers the prospect of a money-spinning tie.

Victory would see them into the draw for the next round alongside clubs from the Super League, which in turn would give them the opportunity of a money-spinning tie against the big boys.