The scene is set for a battle royale on Tyneside next week after York Wasps slipped to within a point of bottom spot in the Northern Ford Premiership yesterday.

York's 8-56 home defeat by Hull KR, combined with Gateshead's first victory of the season at Hunslet, means the Wasps must beat Thunder next week to avoid slumping to the foot of the NFP.

At least yesterday's performance suggests they are more than capable of completing the double over Gateshead.

Although well beaten, they were by no means embarrassed and matched their more illustrious opponents for long periods.

Without two of their key players, Neil Harmon and Lee Badauskas who both withdrew with injuries, there were fears they could be on the receiving end of another cricket score.

But that never materialised and for the first 13 minutes they really took the game to the Robins.

On many occasions this season York have got off to sluggish starts but this time they actually held the advantage for the opening period.

It took a double salvo from former York winger Alex Godfrey, who went on to complete a hat-trick of tries, to finally settle Rovers' nerves.

York-based Godfrey, playing only his second game for Rovers after his move from Dewsbury last week, scored tries in the 13th and 18th minutes before completing the scoring five minutes from time.

His first came from a long floated pass out to the wing by Colin Carter and was aided by Matt Mulholland's decision not to attempt a tackle, believing Godfrey had stepped into touch.

The second followed a superb break from inside his own half by Rob Wilson who drew full-back Mike Hall and off-loaded to Godfrey for a clear sprint to the line.

Chris Charles' two conversions, plus a penalty in between, put Rovers 14-0 up - and also brought up 1000 points conceded by York this season.

The Wasps were able to hold the Robins at bay for another 13 minutes until full-back Bob Everitt swept up onto the shoulder of Carter to take his short pass and score from close range.

They were soon in again, Charles and Everitt combining to set up Rob Wilson for the first of his two tries and Charles converting for a 24-0 interval lead.

York battled well after the break but were often pegged back and slammed to the floor by some massive hits from the visitors.

Paul Fletcher increased Rovers' lead when he forced his way through a crowd of players a minute after half-time but the Wasps were deservedly rewarded with a couple of consolation tries.

Ramsden's long pass out to the right was taken by Matt Mulholland whose inside pass went to ground when he was tackled just short. But Simon Wray used his initiative to kick the ball over the tryline and follow up to score.

After Rob Wilson had gone in for his second, York got over the line again when former Hull KR stand-off Mark Dooley cut through the defence and sidestepped full-back Bob Everitt to score near the posts, Gareth Oulton missing a relatively simple kick.

At that stage York looked like keeping the score under 50 which would have been something of an achievement given that Rovers are play-off contenders.

But as York wilted in the heat, Rovers took advantage to score four more tries in the last 15 minutes.

Substitute Allan Dunham spotted a gap to dart between four players, Craig Murdock finished off a strong run by Charles, Mark Blanchard burst onto Murdock's brilliant pass to get on the scoresheet and Godfrey rubbed salt into York's wounds with a 30-yard run for the final touch down.

York Wasps 8 Hull KR56

YORK: Mike Hall 6, Simon Wray 7, Matt Mulholland 6, Mark Spears 6, Phil Musgrave 6, Mark Dooley 6, Gareth Oulton 6, Darren Crake 7, Alan Pallister 6, Andy Hutchinson 8, Carl Bristow 6, Nathan Pincher 7, Mick Ramsden 7.

Subs: Danny Waite (Pallister 40) 6, Chris Cooney (not used), Andy Innes (Pincher 60) 6, Shane Cochran (Hutchinson 25) 7. Re-subs: Hutchinson (Crake 32), Crake (Bristow 50), Pallister (Oulton 66). Sin-binned: None Sent off: None

HULL KR: Bob Everitt, Dean Andrews, Matt Schultz, Whetu Taewa, Alex Godfrey, Colin Carter, Craig Murdock, Richard Wilson, Steve Cochran, Mark Aston, Richard Slater, Rob Wilson, Chris Charles. Subs: Mark Blanchard (Schultz 21), Allan Dunham (Luckwell 62), Paul Fletcher (Aston 26), David Luckwell (Rich Wilson 26).

Re-subs: Aston (Rich Wilson 77)Sin-binned: None Sent off: None

Man of the match: Andy Hutchinson: Took some big hits but kept coming back for more. Showed plenty of drive and aggression

Updated: 13:00 Monday, May 14, 2001