YORK Wasps boss Leo Epifania was today contemplating what to do after witnessing his side crash to a dreadful defeat to Hunslet.

The Aussie initially did not want to speak to the media after watching his basement side lose 14-9 to a team in similar straits near the foot of the Northern Ford Premiership table.

But he told the Evening Press: "You almost wonder where you go from here as a coach. It's very disappointing.

"I would say there will be a few things come out of this game, pretty noticeable things.

"We will have to sit down and think about it before making rash decisions but something has to be done."

Hawks coach Roy Sampson described the error-ridden match as one of the worst in his 21-year professional career, with "both sides as bad as each other". However, it was the Wasps who paid most, with the result stretching their losing NFP run to 27 games lasting a year and two days.

"We should have beaten them," added Epifania. "We are a much better side than we played today. But at the end of the day we did not do it.

"I expected my team to come up a lot better than that. They obviously did not feel like it today. Maybe they only do it when they feel like it.

"Maybe they thought they were going to win it easily, there was not enough enthusiasm there.

"There are a couple of blokes in there, like Peter Edwards, who give their all the whole game without enough blokes backing them up. He does all the hard work but someone screws it up with a dropped ball or a heroic pass.

"Blokes were trying to score from ridiculous situations rather than do a bit of hard work first. We had blokes trying to put miracle plays in."

He added: "The referee did not help. He hammered us all day, not just with penalties but on the ten-metre rule as well.

"The players got frustrated every time a decision seemed to go against them. That frustration came out in us."

The Wasps knew yesterday's match gave them a great chance of breaking their league duck, but Epifania said that any additional pressure because of that should have spurred them on and not been a burden.

"We had a goal today," he said. "If you can't prove yourself when there's a target, when will you go out and prove yourself?"

Loose-forward Mark Cain reckons the Wasps were probably too fired up for the game.

He denied that the alleged name-calling by the Hawks two months ago had played a part but said the fact it was a derby with local pride and vital points on offer had upped the stakes.

"It was definitely a game we had earmarked to kick-start our season. I think we were just a bit too fired up for it," he said.

"We did not seem to have control at any stage. Maybe we were not thinking with our heads but instead thinking about doing some damage to them.

"Instead of completing our sets of six we got kept dropping the ball and you're not going to beat anybody by doing that. We just handed it to them on a plate.

"Everyone wanted to play well but we haven't lived up to the standards we set before, which is the most disappointing thing."

Updated: 08:59 Monday, February 25, 2002