Following a fortnight of freefall it would have taken the most optimistic of Wasps fans to utter the phrase "Crisis? What crisis?"

It has been a hard 14 days as first came the news of the sad passing of mentor and inspiration club chairman Trevor Cox.

Hard on the heels came the revelations of dressing room unrest and that was backed up by an impoverished home performance as the Vikings of Widnes came and plundered.

A day later the resignations of coaching team Dean Robinson and John Paterson were received and it may have crossed the pessimists minds that there was not much less else that could happen - bar closure.

However, one further point on the way to total rock bottom was still on the menu, the chance of the team sinking to their lowest ebb on the playing front.

Their task was to travel to bottom club Lancashire Lynx and try and prevent a defeat that would have sent Wasps to the very basement of professional rugby league.

Given the psychological baggage of the last two weeks the team would have had every excuse had that been the case, but instead they showed a spirit to fight and they proved their is plenty of life left in the York club.

Caretaker coach Garry Atkins had just two training sessions to try and patch up what he could, but after the victory he handed all the credit to his players claiming what little influence he had could only be measured in the way the team had responded to the club's plight.

While there were the usual errors, not a single man could be faulted for his effort at Victory Park and the performances of the two props - Rich Hayes and Steve Hill - perhaps epitomised everything that was good about the Wasps performance.

In a game where the pack work horses can usually expect to be spelled and get their breath back the pair, due to the sale of Craig Booth and the injury that kept Lea Tichner out, were basically on a brief to keep the pressure up as long as they could.

Hill managed an hour where the only breath that was taken away was that of the Lynx defence as he thundered forward on drives that never failed to gain 10 yards and frequently produced so much more.

Hayes was not far behind him on that front and in defence the pair inspired their team-mates to follow their lead and reduce the Lynx options to a minimum.

The upshot of that was five Wasps tries to Lancashire's two and the only reason the home side stayed in the hunt was Wasps lack of a consistent goal kicker and their early lack of discipline which cost them six points to the boot of hotshot Lynx full-back Paul Roberts as he took every penalty chance handed to him.

Another York failing was an inability to hold the final pass and as early as the fourth minute scrum half Andy Preston knocked on with the route to the line open - full-back John McCracken and substitute Darren Callaghan were other offenders later in the game.

In fact the opening spell did not bode well for Wasps as Roberts booted Lynx in front and, even though a fine finish by Rob Lee put York in front, the home full-back increased the pressure with two more accurate kicks.

On 23 minutes the Lynx moved six points clear as poor tackling allowed stand off Neil Alexander to wriggle in at the posts and Roberts fourth successful kick put Wasps even further on the back foot.

They had not been aided by the fact that skipper Alan Pallister had been sent to the sin-bin for dissent on 16 minutes but once the hooker was restored to the side Wasps began to make headway.

They cut the deficit to six as Mark Cain, who had missed the earlier conversion attempt, slotted over a penalty and then applied a period of pressure that saw the best effort end with trialist winger Max Ryce, who had an excellent game along with Leroy McKenzie on the other flank, held on his back over the try line as he tried to get through from close range after centre Andrew Lambert had been brought down a yard shy after a storming 30 yard break.

Six minutes from half-time York's endeavour paid off when scrum half Preston's neat pass let loose forward Spencer Hargrave run and he powered through from 25 yards to touchdown and Cain levelled the scores with the kick.

And the garden looked all the more rosy as Wasps went in to the interval ahead as Lynx centre Anton Garcia fumbled in the red zone and Lambert's hack allowed Ryce to race through and touch down, though Cain was off target with his kick.

A perfect start to the second half helped as well as from their first attack a great drive by Steve Hill took Wasps to the line and Pallister's neat pass from acting half back allowed Lee to grab his second try and Cain thumped Wasps ten points in front with a more confident looking kick.

The home side's problems were exacerbated when goal machine Roberts had to limp off and, having already lost hooker Gareth Potter before half-time with a suspected broken ankle, their resources were beginning to look rather thin.

However, they showed some fight and on 63 minutes got back into the frame when Danny Houghton made a 40 yard break and though Lambert got back to rap his ankles the substitute still had enough momentum to crawl over and plant the ball behind the try line.

Alexander's goal left just a four point margin and York knew they still had work to do.

Hargrave was unlucky when he managed to get over the line but lost the ball under the weight of three Lynx tacklers, and then Cain missed a gift penalty chance after Lynx substitute Chris Ramsdale had been unfortunate to end up in an offside position ten yards from his own line.

But five minutes from time the job was completed when Ryce showed great strength in forcing his way in for a try and though Callaghan's goal attempt failed Wasps were home and dry.

The Wasps still know that the only way is up, but at least the optimist can say that coach Atkins is not doing it from rock bottom.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.