It was a case of deja vu for York Wasps as they suffered their third 70-point defeat in as many matches.

Following the 84-12 beating by Leigh and last week's shock 78-8 trouncing by Chorley, yesterday's comprehensive 74-0 defeat did not even come as a surprise.

There was at least more commitment by this patched-up Wasps side than in the Chorley debacle but, as stated by coach Lee Crooks, the team is simply not good enough.

As has become the weekly norm, it was another new-look York team that took to the Gigg Lane pitch, which looked worse the wear for its dual use with Bury Football Club.

Five newcomers made their debuts - York University pair Calam Irvin and Gavin Smith, Castleford Panthers duo Paul Harper and Lee McNichol and Hull amateur Scott Acklam.

Irvin and Harper started in the centre and on the wing respectively, while the other three, all forwards, came off the bench.

The Panthers pair were only called into the squad on Saturday after playing in the National Conference League second division clash with Acorn.

They had never even met their new colleagues, never mind trained with them, before the game.

Such a hastily-assembled squad was never going to be a recipe for success and so it proved, though the Wasps did have some good spells.

Indeed, but for two five-minute spells at the end of either half when Swinton ran in six tries it would have been a more respectable result.

York's tackling held firm for long periods while Swinton's failure make the most of their superiority frustrated coach Mike Gregory.

He watched the game from the press bench and could frequently be heard venting his anger at his side countless errors - they failed on 19 occasions to complete their sets of six.

Had they taken all their chances they could have got close to the century. When veteran loose forward Phil Veivers got on the end of Lee Hudson's angled kick after two minutes, and Matt Nanyn added the conversion, the writing was on the wall.

But York's tenacious tackling coupled with Swinton's comedy of errors meant they were unable to add to their tally until midway through the half.

Strong running second rower Paul Smith burst through the line - a common sight during the afternoon - drew the cover and released stand-off Shaun Furey to score in the corner.

By the 40th minute they had increased the lead to 20-0, which the Wasps would have been relatively happy with at half-time.

However, a bad injury to full-back Andy Innes who needed to be stretchered from the field meant four minutes were added to the clock and during that extra time Swinton ran in two more scores.

The latter was the best of the game, taking just two plays to get from one end of the field to the other. It started five metres from their own line when Matt Bateman picked up Gareth Oulton's kick. He and Danny Butler took the ball up to the halfway before the York defence finally stepped in. From the next play they covered the rest of the field, Smith sending out the final pass for Vievers to touch down.

Going in 38-0 down at half-time, York could easily have collapsed but again battled well and trailed 58-0 going into the last ten minutes.

Sadly Swinton, who had struggled to ovecome New Earswick All Blacks 44-12 in the Challenge Cup earlier this year, took York to the cleaners in those closing stages and ran in four more tries.

Lions centre Matt Nanyn was the chief benefactor from the 14-try rout as three tries and nine goals gave him a haul of 30 points to equal the club record for points in a match.

York on the other hand rarely looked like getting on the scoresheet themselves, save for a couple of testing kicks into the Swinton in-goal area.

Forwards Darren Crake, Andy Hutchinson and Gareth Dobson all tried hard to no avail, as did half-backs Gareth Oulton and Danny Waite.

The debutants also looked keen, in particular prop Acklam, but whether they are up to the job remains to be seen - if they stick around long enough to find out.

Swinton:Tries: Nanyn (3), Veivers (2), Hudson (2), Smith (2), Holdstock (2), Furey, Evans, Bateman.

Conversions: Nanyn 9

SWINTON LIONS: Jimmy Evans, Ade Mead, Mick Nanyn, Matt Bateman, Lee Hudson, Shaun Furey, Phil Waring, John-Paul Doherty, Rob Barraclough, Phil Cushion, Dale Holdstock, Paul Smith, Phil Veivers.

Subs: Danny Butler (Barraclough 33), Carlo Napolitano (Cushion 40), Nick Camman (Mead 33), Ryan Stazicker (Doherty 46). Re-subs: Doherty (Veivers 67), Veivers (Holdstock 74)

Sin-binned: None

Sent off: None

YORK WASPS: Andy Innes 5, Tim Rumford 5, Calam Irvin 5, Gareth Lloyd 5, Paul Harper 5, Gareth Oulton 5, Danny Waite 5, Mick Hagan 5, Gareth Dobson 6, Andy Hutchinson 7, Luke Judson 6, Darren Crake 7, Nathan Pincher 6.

Subs: Adam Briggs (Irvin 74) -, Gavin Smith (Crake 62) -, Lee McNichol (Innes 34) 6, Scott Acklam (Hagan 13) 6.

Re-subs: Hagan (Hutchinson 45), Hutchinson (Hagan 52).

Blood bin: McNichol (Rumford 16, reversed 28)

Sin-binned: None.

Sent off: None

Penalties: York 8, Swinton 4

Scrums won: York 11, Swinton 7.

Attendance: 545

HT: 38-0

Referee: Ron Laughton (Barnsley).

Updated: 12:42 Monday, March 26, 2001