YORK Wasps might have denied that yesterday's rearranged game with Hunslet Hawks was a grudge match. However, the proof was in the pudding.

There were minor scrapes throughout the clash and it all culminated in a 26-man brawl three minutes from time, in which two bouts - Jon Liddell v Lee Bargate and Steve Hill v Craig Ibbotson - were particularly prominent.

Not a grudge match? Come off it.

The game between the local rivals was always likely to be heated as both teams were desperate for points and had targeted the game as one with which to kick-start their seasons.

There was added spice, too, stemming from the controversial postponement of the original match between the teams, on Boxing Day. That game was called off just before kick-off because of a frozen pitch, with some Hawks players allegedly accusing Wasps of being soft for not wanting to play.

The Wasps might have proved yesterday that they were not soft but, more importantly, they lost the game.

The first scrape occurred in only the third minute when Hill and Scott Dyson clashed. A minute later Mark Cain and Hawks' York-based hooker Tony Howcroft were involved in fisticuffs.

And so it went on. Peter Edwards was penalised for swinging punches in the tackle, Andy Precious and Scott Yeaman were deemed to have executed head-high tackles and Cain was pulled up for landing an elbow.

Carl Barrow, who was punched for no discernible reason in the first half, was put on report late in the second for appearing to hit a grounded opponent.

Substitute Craig Moore's first contribution was to get involved in a set-to with Gareth Naylor. Moore, a recent signing from Gateshead, wasn't even with York when that previous game was postponed.

It all boiled over at the end as every player got involved after Liddell and Bargate had initially come to blows inside Hawks' territory.

The young Wasp probably won his mini-bout but, crucially, Hunslet had the penalty and York's last chance of a match-winning try was gone. Incidentally, Liddell and Bargate were sent off.

Now, one may wonder why so much fuss should be made of a few ugly scrapes. Surely a match report should centre on the actual rugby action.

However, in this case, that brawl was possibly the most exciting aspect of a dour match littered with errors. Indeed, Hunslet coach Roy Sampson ranked it as perhaps the worst he'd been involved in, in 20-plus years of professional rugby.

Furthermore, to consider how the Wasps wasted such a glorious opportunity to break their league duck is simply too depressing.

Basically, if ever a team were there to be beaten, it was Hunslet yesterday. They were awful. However, although the Wasps were not quite as bad, it was they who paid most for some schoolboy blunders.

Referee Ben Thaler got caught up in it all too, and indeed must have come close to outdoing both of them in the error count.

By making a plethora of odd-ball rulings and by not stamping his authority on the game - the two late reds were the only cards he issued - the young official perhaps added to the players' frustration, especially that of the Wasps, who were hammered 14-6 in the penalty count.

Even so, if the Wasps had played anywhere near as good as they had done in their previous match, against Villeneuve, they would have walked it.

As it was, they still came within ten minutes of a long-awaited victory, as they led 9-6 only to right royally mess it up.

Rather than boot the ball downfield on the sixth tackle, they were caught in possession 25 yards from their own line.

Hawks stand-off Scott Dyson then found a gap and passed to Dan Briggs, the York-based former Heworth youngster who had a spell at Huntington Stadium, to touch down.

Craig Stevens added the conversion and three minutes later landed a penalty to complete the scoring.

The game had begun badly for York when, on five minutes, Stevens goaled his first penalty and, from the restart, the Wasps were offside.

But it got better when a fine kick and chase by Liddell caught Hawks in their own ten, with the home team dropping the ball on their second tackle. From the scrum, Yeaman fed Liddell, who found his way over.

Jamie Benn missed the conversion from near the touchline, but two consecutive offsides allowed him to add a 15th-minute penalty.

The 6-2 lead didn't last long. Just after Micky Johnson went close for Hunslet down the right, Wasps gave them the ball back and Lee Bargate took advantage of an overlap, after Carl Hall had been sucked out of the line, to equalise.

Stevens nearly latched onto a 40-yard interception, while at the other end Edwards' cheeky grubber forced a drop out, but it remained 6-6 at the break.

The second half began in the same vain as the first, as Stevens dropped York's restart. On the sixth tackle that followed, a drop goal by former Hawk Andy Precious edged the Wasps ahead.

It nearly got better as Shaun Austerfield touched down a Liddell grubber only to be deemed offside.

More strange decisions from Thaler saw Kieran Allan and then Stevens somehow miss simple penalties for Hunslet, before Benn slotted one over from 30 yards to make it 9-6.

However, with victory in sight, it all went bottom-up.

Hunslet Hawks

T: Bargate (18), Briggs (31). P: Stevens (6, 74). C: Stevens (31).

Hunslet Hawks: Allan, Powell, Bargate, Seal, Johnson, Dyson, Stevens, Wray, Howcroft, Briggs, Firth, Coyle, Naylor.

Subs used: Ibbotson, Cook, Luxford. Sub not used: Sanchez.

Sent off: Bargate (77).

Sin-binned: None.

York Wasps

T: Liddell (11). P: Benn (14, 28). DG: Precious (42).

York Wasps: Benn 6, Sorbello 6, Austerfield 6, Hall 7, Molloy 6, Liddell 7, Yeaman 6, Docherty 6, Edwards 7, Hill 5, Barrow 5, Ramsden 6, Cain 5.

Subs used: Kirke 5, Precious 6, Crake 5, Moore 6.

Sent off: Liddell (77).

Sin-binned: None.

Referee: Ben Thaler

Attendance: 480.

Updated: 10:53 Monday, February 25, 2002