The C-force is back with a bang, and with it York Wasps' hopes of a top five Premiership finish.

Star Man Darren Callaghan goes over by the posts for one of his two tries

After two weeks of relative anonymity, Mark Cain and Darren Callaghan turned on the style to inspire the Wasps to their biggest Premiership win of the season.

It is surely no coincidence that when the two half-backs are firing, so too are the Wasps.

In the defeats at Rochdale and Dewsbury the pair showed little authority and were second best to their opposite numbers.

Yesterday at the Huntington Stadium they were simply stunning - and it showed in the result.

The pair were joined in their demolition by York's other star performer this season Steve Hill, who again showed incredible power in a barnstorming display.

The trio have been vying for the man of the match award in the majority of games this term and so it proved again, Callaghan just getting the edge on this occasion.

But it was the defensive effort of the whole team which built the platform for the victory and incredibly, for the first time in more than five years, they managed to nil their opponents.

But some of the credit for that achievement must go the woeful Warriors who were among the worst teams York have faced this season.

Warriors in name they may be, but certainly not by nature, and they succumbed even more meekly than their amateur neighbours Egremont had in the Challenge Cup at the start of the season.

At least they showed the sort of spirit which is expected of the usually rough and tough Cumbrian teams. Whitehaven didn't, and the Wasps took full advantage.

The first half belonged to Callaghan who weighed in with two of the five tries which helped York to a 28-0 interval lead.

The first came when he threw a cheeky dummy to scamper over from acting half and open the scoring early on. Partner in crime Cain did the same three minutes later and a quick change of direction took him past Aaron Lester and Gary Charlton to touch down in an almost identical spot, just to the left of the posts.

Benn converted both then grabbed a try himself, Callaghan's long ball finding Cain who switched it back inside superbly to put Benn through the gap and leave himself another easy kick.

Whitehaven were paying for indiscipline at the play the ball and second row Charlton, the main culprit, was sin-binned for holding down on the half hour. York made the most of the extra man to score two tries in four minutes. After a tremendous 15 metre drive by Hill, Leigh Deakin, back after a week's absence, did well to get the ball out of a tackle to Shaun Austerfield and he found Callaghan who managed to cross the line despite the attentions of two tacklers.

Then Paul Darley wrongfooted the slack Haven defence and strolled through a massive gulf to touch down for possibly the easiest try he'll ever score.

Charlton was sent back to the dug out on the stroke of half-time, just a minute after returning to the field, for obstructing Callaghan but Benn missed a chance to bring up the 30-point mark when his penalty attempt hit the post.

Whitehaven's only scoring opportunity of the first half fell to Wayne Kitchin who missed a penalty but they did improve after the break. Graeme Lewthwaite went over after four minutes but the pass from Craig Chambers was ruled forward, then Chambers and Leroy Joe were both tackled just short.

York weathered the storm and hit back with a further three tries, all converted by Benn. John Strange found plenty of space to score after Rich Goddard and the strong-running Fata Sini combined well, then Cain managed to sneak a ball out of a tackle for the supporting Lea Tichener to crash over.

It was wrapped up three minutes from time when Darley confused everybody before finally opting to give the ball to Mick Ramsden and Mick Cain was on hand to take his try tally for the season into double figures.

Warriors players in showdown meeting

Fuming Whitehaven Warriors chairman Ralph Calvin is demanding answers following their dreadful performance and will hold a straight-talking meeting with the players today.

He will ask all of them "to explain to me if they want to play for this club," a move which has the support of coach Kevin Tamati who said: "If the guys don't want to play, if they think picking up their money is all they play rugby league for, then I agree it's not the place for them to be.

"That certainly looked the case because there was not a lot of interest and no desire to put their body on the line which is very disappointing for the supporters that came down here. It's a long way to come for a club which has been out and out embarrassed."

Tamati was crictical of his side's lack of discipline which he believes could have cost them the game early on. He said: "We had problems with stupid penalties in the first quarter.

When you're trying to establish a platform to work from and you're constantly being pushed back by stupid cheap shots you are always under pressure."

The Warriors chief, who was disappointed with his side's performance last week despite beating Bramley 40-16, praised the Wasps but added: "If you asked a neutral who they thought was in the first division and who was in the second division last year I'm sure they would have got it the wrong way round."

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