The Grand Final may be out of reach but for York Wasps a grand finale was the next best thing.

SMILES BETTER: Iefata Sini goes over for one of his four tries, above, supported by Darren Callaghan.

And that was exactly what they produced yesterday as they brought the season to an end with the kind of slick, attacking rugby which has become characteristic of their play all season.

The biggest winning margin in club history could easily have fallen had the ball gone to hand a few more times but in the end they had to settle for a couple of personal records for Jamie Benn.

Not that anybody was complaining. The Wasps had been desperate to provide an end of season party and they didn't disappoint.

While it was in attack that they caught the eye, statistically they also produced their best defensive display of the season, missing just seven tackles which was some way better than the previous best.

Peter Edwards led the way in that department as he topped the tackle count with 20. It was a fantastic day too for Iefata Sini whose four tries made him the club's joint top try-scorer this season alongside Leigh Deakin and Mark Cain.

And while a number of players may have been appearing in York shirts for the last time, the future of the club was on display in the form of Academy full-back Phil Lawrence. He was given a place on the bench after Rich Goddard pulled out at the last minute with a virus and didn't look out of his depth when he joined the fray with 10 minutes to go.

He almost scored too, but was tackled just short in the closing stages.

Had he succeeded it would have come as no surprise as it was that kind of day. Barring the first 15 minutes when their big pack got on top, Oldham seemed to be at Huntington Stadium just to make up the numbers.

It was almost as if they had been given a script which they followed to the letter. There was no way they were going to be party poopers, not even when they dared to take an early lead.

Benn put York in front with a penalty but Oldham replied when Mark Perrett took Emerson Jackman's pass on the burst, side stepped Darren Callaghan and crossed under the posts. As Jim Salisbury kicked the conversion, Perrett was carried from the field with an injury.

The first York try came after 13 minutes. Sini was brought down just short and Pallister dived over from acting half leaving Benn an easy kick.

Salisbury levelled things with a penalty but the Oldham resistance soon fell away when Sini scored his first in the corner after fine build up play between Garry Atkins and Salford Reds target John Strange. The only blot on Benn's copybook came with the conversion which was pulled wide by a gust of wind.

Andy Precious was the next on the scoresheet when he took Pallister's pass to crash over from close range for only his second try of the season.

There were huge cheers after half an hour when a Benn penalty brought up his 100th goal of the season then it was back to the business of clocking up the points. Peter Edwards' inside pass put Callaghan in space and he shook off the challenge of Daniel Brown to score under the posts, prompting a rare sight.

Referee Nick Oddy penalised Oldham for what he later revealed was 'flopping in the act of scoring' and Benn was given two kicks at goal, both of which were successful.

Benn proved he can score tries as well as kick goals when he grabbed the next touchdown, picking up the ball after Pallister had popped it out of a ruck.

A minute into the second half, Callaghan regathered his own chip, found Preston on his shoulder and the stand-off spun out of a tackle by Joe McNicholas and set up the supporting Chris Judge for a simple try.

Sini got his second after York had kept the ball alive well on the last tackle and followed that up with his hat-trick, again linking up well with centre partner Atkins.

Atkins got in on the act himself with the next try then Callaghan grabbed his second from acting half. Fittingly it was the two men of the moment who rounded things off, Sini getting the try and Benn converting magnificently from the touchline.

The only saving grace for Oldham was that they avoided conceding 1000 points for the season, but only by a single point.

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