YORK Wasps suffered the ignominy of equalling a 50-year-old club record of 24 consecutive defeats when losing 22-8 to Hull Kingston Rovers yesterday.

Of course, the blame for that cannot be laid at the feet of current coach Leo Epifania, but if his players continue to give away as much possession as they did at Huntington Stadium yesterday then any other kind of result would be hard to come by.

Again there were positives for the Wasps - their spirit was still abundant and the improvement on last season remains clear - but the same old problem of cheaply giving away possession prevails.

At a guess, the visitors must have enjoyed 70 per cent of the control as too many mistakes in attack and the concession of too many penalties handed them too much good ball.

Indeed, it was joked that this Wasps side must enjoy their tackling a lot, such is their desire to give the ball to the opposition. Yet, ironically, one of the most annoying things about it is the fact that they can tackle but simply give themselves too much defending to do.

Throughout this game, their bulwark was strong and skilful but basic probability states that if a team as good as Hull KR have that much possession then they are bound to rattle up a good score.

They got a nap hand of tries yesterday, with hat-trick winger Alasdair McClarron - a former Harrogate rugby union flyer - capitalising the most, but would always be expected to do so if given so much attacking opportunity.

Similarly annoying for the Wasps is the fact that when they do keep hold of the ball they do possess the ability to break teams down - but don't keep hold of the ball sufficiently to do so often enough.

Against Rovers they occasionally broke the line and stand-off Jon Liddell scored probably the try of the match with his touchdown at the death.

Scrum-half Mark Cain's chip was fielded by Jamie Benn on the burst and the full-back's reverse-kick with his left boot saw the covering McClarron foxed by the bounce, allowing Liddell to pick up and sprint over the line.

Benn added the conversion but it was all too little too late from Wasps' attack.

Rovers had already scored their five tries, starting with Chris Charles' effort on 12 minutes in the right corner.

The loose-forward had, seconds earlier, been held up over the line by some smart defence but Wasps immediately suffered a turn-over in their own 20 and this time he made the most of it by crossing in the right corner.

Soon after, Shaun Austerfield knocked on trying to collect a difficult ball from a Rovers grubber kick, and, after Craig Murdock had used the blind side at the resultant scrum, McClarron crossed in the left corner.

Four minutes later, Wasps winger Matt Mulholland allowed a Murdoch bomb to bounce and then fumbled the ball over his own goal line for McClarron to win the race to the touchdown.

At 12-0 down, York deserve credit for fighting back, and, with Charles missing all but one conversion attempt, the result remained in doubt for much of the game.

Indeed, it could have been a different story if referee Ben Thaler had sent off Rovers full-back Lynton Stott for a trip on his opposite number, Benn, just before half-time.

The Wasps man gathered a kick, made ground through broken play and chipped Stott 30 yards out to set up a sprint for the touchdown, only to be felled.

However, despite agreeing that Benn was tripped by awarding the penalty, the young official kept his cards in his pocket, and Benn's only reward was a penalty goal in front of the sticks, with the incident placed on report.

The first score after the break was crucial, but errors by Wasps, in particular skipper Peter Edwards, meant it went to Rovers.

Gavin Molloy had superbly chased a Cain kick and tackled former Wasp Alex Godrey into touch, giving Wasps head and feed in a good position.

However, Edwards, in a bid to speed up the play-the-ball, pushed a tackler off debutant Steve Hill and was penalised, and he then had a pop at Matt Schultz - the two had enjoyed a running battle all day - to give away another penalty.

With good field position assured for the visitors, McClarron capitalised on an overlap for his hat-trick score, with Charles goaling.

With nine minutes left, impressive Rovers stand-off Jon Wilkin - who, minutes earlier, had been denied a deserved try by a superb Mick Docherty tackle following a blazing break by Paul Fletcher - raced away to score a 30-yard interception and rub Wasps' noses in it.

Liddell, however, had the last word to give the scoreline a better look and reward the Wasps' 100 per cent effort. But, nevertheless, York remain bottom of the Northern Ford Premiership table and need victory at title-hopefuls Rochdale next week to avoid setting a new unwanted club record.

York Wasps' opponents next Sunday, Rochdale Hornets, drew 14-14 with last year's table-toppers, Leigh Centurions, at Hilton Parl yesterday.

Both teams therefore remained unbeaten this season but in the standings still trail Huddersfield Giants, who saw off Barrow Raiders 36-12 at the McAlpine Stadium.

Surprise package Workington Town moved second with a 24-16 defeat of Hunslet Hawks.

York Wasps: Benn 7, Mulholland 5, Austerfield 6, Hall 6, Molloy 7, Liddell 8, Cain 7, Docherty 6, Edwards 6, Hill 6, Kirke 6, Ramsden 6, R Lee 6.

Subs (all used): Precious 6, Barrow 6, Deakin 6, A Lee 6.

Sin-binned: none.

Sent off: none.

T: Liddell (80). C: Benn. P: Benn (29).

Hull KR: Stott, Godfrey, Blanchard, Taewa, Mc-Clarron, Wilkin, Murdock, Hayes, Dunham, Wilson, Smith, Schultz, Charles.

Subs (all used): Farrell, Aston, Fletcher, Luckwell.

Sin-binned: none.

Sent off: none.

T: Charles (13), McClarron (19, 23, 59), Wilkin (71). C: Charles.

Guildford Construction/Evening Press man of the match

Jon Liddell

Was let down by poor handling around him but got a try his efforts deserved.

Referee: Ben Thaler. Att: 1,062.

Updated: 12:45 Monday, January 14, 2002