YORK Wasps have convened an emergency board meeting in the wake of yesterday's dreadful 14-9 defeat by Hunslet Hawks.

Chairman John Stabler described the performance as "totally unacceptable" and told the Evening Press that head coach Leo Epifania would be making an appearance at the meeting.

He said the Aussie's future was not in question as only last week the Wasps revealed they were talking about extending his contract. But he added: "What is an issue is the manner of the defeat and what positives can be taken to improve matters. We will be discussing the matter with Leo.

"It was not acceptable, especially for the fans. They deserve better and it's up to us to make it better."

Stabler admitted the promised influx of top-quality players had, for reasons mainly beyond Wasps' control, not materialised but he added: "When you looked at our side it did not look a bad team.

"I counted five players with Super League experience, while Hunslet were just a bunch of kids with, in my view, a limited amount of ability, yet we could not roll them over.

"We resorted to strong-arm tactics which is totally unacceptable. This sort of thing could lead to disciplinary problems.

"I just hope what happened at the end of the match won't be deemed to be a brawl because if so we'd get a fine which we can't afford."

Updated: 11:46 Monday, February 25, 2002