Acting coach Garry Atkins offered no excuses after watching York Wasps' mini-revival come to an end at Workington Town.

The Wasps went to Cumbria on the back of successive wins against Lancashire and Barrow which had seen them make progress up the Northern Ford Premiership table.

But they slipped back to second from bottom as fellow strugglers Workington capitalised on York's failure to turn pressure into points.

"There was not a lot of encouragement from the performance," said a disappointed Atkins after the 23-7 defeat. "We were our own worst enemies. I felt we lost the game rather than Workington winning it. We were not switched on and we threw it away.

"I said at half-time that the team that wants to win it the most will win it and that's what happened.

"There are no excuses. Some people need to ask themselves questions after today. There were some big performances and some poor ones and some of the lads have let the others down."

York were well on top in the first 25 minutes but were unable to breach the defence, allowing Workington to hit back with two tries before half-time. Both were created by ex-Wasp Dave Watson, the second coming from an outrageous kick from a scrum.

Reflecting on the first-half, Atkins said: "We have worked hard on certain areas but attack hasn't been one of them. They only made two breaks in the first half and scored two tries.

"When they scored their first try we were well in front and it was a big knock. The kick from the scrum was dumb. I can't understand why we didn't defend it but we will work on that."

One player who emerged with credit was new signing Craig Forsyth who has returned to York after a three-year break.

An injury to Rich Hayes midway through the second half prompted his introduction from the substitutes bench and he earned high praise from Atkins, who said: "I though he went really well. He was one of the best forwards on the park. All I asked for was enthusiasm and he definitely showed it for the full time he was on the park.

"He never took a backward step and kept plugging away. He tackled well and got us out of jail a few times."

Forsyth, player-coach with amateur side Heworth, is now looking to make the grade with York for a second time. He initially signed just for yesterday's game but that will be reviewed tomorrow and he is keen to stay until at least until the end of the season.

"I want to play at a higher grade of rugby and just keep enjoying it. If it works out then I would want to stay. I had an understanding with Heworth that I'd just stay as coach to the end of the season because I have other work commitments as well," said Forsyth, who approached York last week about returning to the club.

"I came to the game last week and asked Gaz (Atkins) what the chances were of coming back. They have got a lot of injuries at the moment so he asked me to come down. It's worked out alright for them and good for me.

"It's only two weeks since my last game so I'm still pretty fit. A few of the calls have changed since I was last here and I was struggling a bit with the speed of the game but I fitted in alright."

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