WE will get out of this rut. That was the message from coach Richard Agar after York City Knights fell to their third defeat in a row on Sunday, the first time they have suffered a triple reverse since April last year.

The Knights lost 19-8 at Hunslet Hawks to fall four points behind Barrow at the top of the LHF Healthplan National League Two table.

Agar said: "We're in a sticky patch. Every team goes through one in a season, it's about how long this patch lasts. Some teams can have a poor month and come up with a couple of wins

"There's only us who can get out of it. But we can get out of it for sure."

The Knights had enjoyed an eight-game winning streak before losing to Hull KR in the Arriva Trains Cup semi-final a fortnight ago followed by a league loss at Workington last week and now this.

Agar added: "We've accepted the plaudits that have been our way and it's now time to accept the flak, look at ourselves and move forward.

"We've got the talent, perhaps our application and our mental application needs to be better.

"I still don't think we're a million miles off and I'm confident we can get out of this rut."

Referee Gareth Hewer came in for stick from York fans yesterday and the Evening Press believes Agar is to contact the referees' commissioner about the standard of officiating. However, he was tactful in his media briefing after the game.

"I'm loathe to be critical of referees," he said. "I would like to have a look at the tape first rather than shoot from the hip. Coaches and spectators can see it wrong sometimes and referees are sometimes right. But I thought there were inconsistencies.

"I thought the rucks were very slow and the tens (ten-metre offside line at the play-the-balls) were short and without doubt it became a feature."

Knights skipper Lee Jackson, who had several conversations with the referee, became increasingly agitated late in the game, and Agar said: "He got frustrated and that speaks volumes.

"He's a seasoned international, a true gentleman of the game, his discipline is fantastic - he's been sent off just once in about 16 years - and he was clearly getting frustrated.

"But we've got to learn to accept that in NL2 we're at the bottom of the pecking order for referees.

"We've maybe got to rise above it, although I could understand at times why they were getting frustrated."

But he added: "I'm not so sure it (refereeing decisions) totally cost us the game.

"We only had 14 sets in the first half, whereas generally it's between 22 and 25, and we only finished about half.

"Hunslet are a good defensive team and it's a small pitch. We said chances would be few and far between and when they came along we would have to take them, but we did not sustain any pressure, partly due to our poor ball control and the fact the whistle was blowing a lot.

"Some players in our side did not impose themselves on the game as they should be doing."

The Knights now have a week off, their next game being at Sheffield on Friday, July 23, though training will continue as normal.

Agar added: "We don't have to wait as long as we otherwise would (if we were playing on Sunday, July 25), but perhaps the break will do us a little bit of good, give us a bit of time to have a good look and try to get things right and hopefully freshen the blokes up a little bit."

Updated: 10:52 Monday, July 12, 2004