THE directors of York Wasps were returning to grim reality today after the team finally gave them something to smile about yesterday.

The Wasps hit top form to hammer Batley Bulldogs 33-10 at Mount Pleasant and end their 10 games without a win sequence.

Chief executive Ann Garvey paid tribute to the players saying: "I'm really proud of them all."

However, it was only brief respite for Garvey and the board who were today continuing their efforts to evade a winding-up order from the Inland Revenue.

They are following up lines of inquiry and have convened a board meeting for tonight, after which they hope to have further news on the state of play.

But yesterday belonged to the players who showed true professionalism to keep their minds focussed during the off-field turmoil.

Coach Garry Atkins responded to Friday night's 42-22 defeat by Rochdale by making a number of changes, including playing himself at stand-off, switching Mark Cain to full-back and handing Gareth Lloyd his first start on the wing.

And the moves paid off as, trailing 10-8 at half-time, the Wasps scored 25 points without reply in a stunning second half display.

"I knew it was there - it's been there all the time," said Atkins, who went off in the second half after taking a knock to the head.

"We performed from one to 17 admirably. We did all the hard work in the first half then I knew we could come out in the second half and do a good job which we did. There were some great tries out there."

Atkins had some reservations about playing down the infamous Mount Pleasant slope in the second half, and revealed he had spoken about it at half-time.

"I know from when I've played here that, psychologically, when you're going down the hill you can go out thinking it's going to be easy. But we stuck to our guns really well and toughed it out for the first 10 or 15 minutes then it was no contest.

"They aren't a bad side but we made them look ordinary, like sides have made us look us ordinary, so it's nice to be able to have a role reversal."

Scrum-half Craig Robinson paid for a poor display against Rochdale on Friday with the axe, Atkins instead opting to give Darren Callaghan his first chance in the number seven shirt for two months

Of his decision to select himself at stand-off - his first appearance since February - Atkins explained: "I just wanted to give us some direction. On Friday, no disrespect to Craig (Robinson), but he didn't give us any forward momentum and Daz (Callaghan) did when he moved up.

"Our centres are going well, I'm not fast enough for the wing and I hate full-back, so that only left stand off!"

There were also changes in the pack with New Zealander Michael Smith getting his first start in the second row and Andy Hill switching to loose forward.

Again, Atkins' ploy worked as he revealed: "Spencer (Hargrave) and Chris Judge missed out and were unhappy but we consciously went out with a big pack for the first 15 or 20 minutes and it worked well.

"Then we brought on the more mobile members of the pack when the pace had been taken out of their forwards."

No major injury concerns emerged from the game with Atkins expecting to be fit to face former team Hull KR on Sunday.

The fans have their say on Wasps cash crisis - see tomorrow night's Evening Press Sport.