EVEN the most ardent York fan must have expected the Wasps to set another unwanted record at Spotland today.

Rochdale put 98 points past Lee Crooks' men in the corresponding fixture last season - a best for the Northern Ford Premiership and a club worst for York - and they have continued to prove they are a true force in the NFP.

They spent well during the close-season and added even more strength to an already strong squad, so much so that yesterday they had Super League experience on the bench.

Indeed, they are on the longest current unbeaten run in the NFP (not including play-offs) and are definite contenders for this year's title.

With that in mind, it was inevitable that they would beat Wasps and hand the York outfit - now bossed by Leo Epifania - that new club record 25th consecutive defeat.

The scoreline might not have been so disheartening had Wasps not been without six first-teamers - namely Carl Hall, Mick Ramsden, Ben Sorbello, Andy Precious, Darren Crake and Ian Kirke, who were either injured or unavailable. But even so, Rochdale, at present, are a team they can only aspire to.

Full of pace, power, skill and experience, Martin Hall's side are the best York have come up against this season, and the 54-0 scoreline reflected, albeit harshly, the gulf between the teams that took to the pitch.

Epifania struggled to find any positives after the game, other than the usual endeavour, spirit and commitment.

But the Aussie - like Crooks before him - can only play the cards he's been dealt and, in poker terms, his hand is the equivalent of a pair of fours compared to Rochdale's running flush.

Birthday boy Richard Agar started the ball rolling as early as the fourth-minute as he skipped past Rob Lee and Leigh Deakin far too easily to touch down.

It then appeared as though York might just make a game of it as it took 17 minutes for the Hornets to score again. But after Agar's half-back partner, Latham Tawhai, had notched the first of his hat-trick of tries, taking a sharp pass from Dave Larder to run untroubled through a big gap, the floodgates creaked open.

Winger Casey Mayberry added the third try just after the half hour, when Wasps winger Gavin Molloy caught a cross-field kick only to be clattered on the line and lose the ball; then Tawhai got his second within 120 seconds after a fine break involving Richard Pachniuk and James Bunyan; and Marlon Billy bundled a lucky fifth on the stroke of half-time, after Bunyan had been held up but fumbled the ball backwards.

Rochdale ran in six more tries after the break, some from close in and others from their own half, as the power and pace throughout the team took advantage of some weak tackling.

Damian Ball got the first, although any one of the five players who supported Agar's break could have received his scoring pass.

Dave Watson barged over from acting-half to complete some more fine running rugby, then another good break saw man of the match centre Matt Calland got on the scoresheet.

Mayberry (again), Tawhai (again) and Matt Long all touched down some excellent team efforts, with Rochdale's total being completed by four Agar conversions (plus a few misses) and one from Tawhai.

Debutant wideman Michael Forbes was perhaps the only real plus point for Epifania today.

The Londoner had the confidence to ask before the game to be put up against Marlon Billy and not only did he keep the record-breaking winger reasonably quiet but he also put him out of the game early in the second half with a crunching textbook tackle.

On top of that, he showed glimpses of pace which is otherwise lacking in the Wasps squad and which could prove useful as the season goes on.

Other than that, there was little for Epifania to smile about. His team did have their moments in the opposition half but they lacked the necessary spark to truly threaten the Hornets' line, while some of the one-on-one tackling was not as good as it could be.

That said, however, to put this defeat into perspective, 54-0 was coincidentally the scoreline at only half-time of last season's fixture.

It might be a case of clutching at straws in the search for another positive but, in addition, the average points per game conceded by the Wasps during this awful 25-match run has been 58. So at least today's result lowered that mean.

Neither of these facts offered much cheer for the Aussie.

Fact file:

Rochdale Hornets

T: Agar (4), Tawhai (21, 34, 71), Mayberry (32, 63), Billy (40), Ball (49), Watson (58), Calland (61), Long (78). C: Agar 4, Tawhai 1.

Owen, Mayberry, Bunyan, Calland, Billy, Agar, Tawhai, Davidson, Pachniuk, Long, Smith, Larder, Ball.

Subs (all used): Watson, Berry, Sinfield, Stephenson.

Sin-binned: none.

Sent off: none.

York Wasps: Benn 7, Forbes 7, Austerfield 6, R Lee 5, Molloy 5, Cain 5, Yeaman 6, Docherty 6, Edwards 6, Hill 6, Deakin 5, Barrow 6, Liddell 6.

Subs (all used): Hutchinson 6, Stannard 6, A Lee 6, Waite 6.

Sin-binned: none.

Sent off: none.

HT: 22-0. Referee: Julian King (St Helens) Att: 1,044.

Updated: 11:09 Monday, January 21, 2002