New Yorkshire chief Lee Crooks was brought back down to earth with an almighty crash as York Wasps slumped to yet another record defeat at Rochdale Hornets.

Just three days after being confirmed as the Tykes coach, Crooks was forced to endure an agonising 80 minutes at Spotland which saw Rochdale Hornets come within two points of a topping a ton.

After four successive 70-point defeats, Crooks had set his players a target of not conceding more than 50 against Rochdale. But that had been shattered by half-time when the Hornets led 54-0.

They scored 19 tries in all, winger Marlon Billy equalling the club record for five tries in a match.

That really should have been enough to reach the century mark but stand-off Martin Wood could manage just 11 conversions.

It was still enough to beat their club record victory, surpassing the 92-0 win against Runcorn back in 1989.

For the Wasps it was the second time this season they have suffered a record defeat, exceeding the new mark of 90-6 set at Widnes in February.

Yet again York were made to pay for lack of experience and quality. For the third time this season kit man Steve Harris made up the numbers on the bench where he was joined by two new debutants from the Army, Steve Lamb and Barrington Barnett. The latter had never played a game of rugby league before, his only experience being in the union code.

There were welcome returns for hooker Alan Pallister and back row forward Mick Ramsden but the late withdrawals of Darren Crake, Craig Forsyth and Lee Bardauskas through work commitments was a triple blow.

However, it is unlikely they would have made that much difference against a Rochdale side who did the basics to perfection.

They didn't bother with the flashy moves, probably because they didn't need them. All it took was quick, simple passing and direct running to leave the Wasps' paper thin defence in tatters.

The chief tormentor in the first half was brilliant prop forward Danny Sculthorpe. He took the Wasps apart down the middle and had a hand in most of Rochdale's first half tries.

After he was substituted at half-time there was a noticeable drop in tempo and direction by the Hornets but that didn't make much difference to the outcome.

Even at 50 points up they never let their foot off the gas, punishing a Wasps defence which was made even weaker by injuries to full-back Callum Irving, his replacement Lamb and second rower Nathan Pincher.

There were four tries for centre Brendan O'Meara and three for hooker Darren Robinson but it was crowd favourite Billy who stole the show. He opened the rout after just two minutes then fittingly wrapped it up with a solo 80-metre effort two minutes from time.

Oh what the Wasps wouldn't give for a Marlon Billy in their ranks right now, or anybody who can break a tackle for that matter. Sadly they don't, as their humbling record of just six tries in the last six games goes to prove.

During that period the opposition have run up 452 points, and there's no end in sight just yet. Which begs the question - just how much longer will Crooks put up with what is becoming a weekly humiliation?

Rochdale 98 York Wasps 0

Rochadale: Tries: Billy (2mins, 19, 45, 71, 78), Robinson (5, 9, 36), Cooper (14), Watson (17), O'Meara (26, 33, 59, 68), Bunce (29), Larder (48), Owen (56), Wood (61), Bunyan (63) Conversions: Wood 11 ROCHDALE: Paul Owen, Sean Cooper, Brendan O'Meara, Matt Calland, Marlon Billy, Danny Wood, Warren Ayres, Danny Sculthorpe, Darren Robinson, Andy Ireland, David Stephenson, James Bunyan, Dave Watson. Subs: Neil Alexander (Stephenson 46mins), Martin Bunce (Ireland 23), Wes Rogers (Watson 40), Dave Larder (Sculthorpe 40). Re-subs: Ireland (Bunyan 62). Sin-binned: None. Sent off: None.

York Wasps: YORK WASPS: Callum Irving -, Tim Rumford 5, Andy Webster 4, Luke Billyheald 5, Andy Innes 4, Gareth Oulton 5, Danny Waite 4, Scott Acklam 5, Alan Pallister 4, Andy Hutchinson 6, Nathan Pincher 4, Mick Ramsden 5, Gareth Dobson 5. Subs: Lee Turnbull (Pincher 55) 4, Steve Lamb (Irving 15) 5, Barry Barnett (Webster 24) 5, Steve Harris (not used). Sin-binned: None. Sent off: None.

Man of the match: Andy Hutchinson: Hard to pick anybody out from this display but Hutchinson at least kept running, as did Gareth Dobson.

Updated: 12:45 Monday, April 09, 2001