YORK City Knights made it a magnificent seven from seven – and three from three in League One – with an 11-try 60-6 thrashing of hapless Hemel Stags.

Eyebrows might have been raised when head coach James Ford made no fewer than eight changes to the side that shocked Rochdale in the iPro Cup last week, among them two debutants in Matty Dale and Ross Osbourne and two others who had yet to play this year.

But Ford must have seen enough footage of the sorry Stags to know victory would still be straightforward against a side without a win since last July. Next Friday’s Challenge Cup tie at Dewsbury will almost certainly have been in mind.

There was always going to be a danger of complacency, of course, as well as a reduction in cohesion, and of being dragged down to the hosts’ level by some unorthodox rugby. But the only real sustained period of sloppiness arrived after they had reached the half-century mark.

This helped the Stags get on the scoreboard, but the Knights were quick to make amends – Richard Wilkinson getting his second try and Kriss Brining completing a hat-trick to round things off.

Indeed, the dominant performance as a whole outlined the strength in depth of this squad being put together by Ford – and of his selection headaches to come.

His team had taken the lead in the fifth minute through Ed Smith, the second row looking for options and deciding to keep hold and power himself to the line.

In the next attack, Wilkinson dummied and smartly sprinted through some dozy defence on the diagonal, Danny Nicklas adding the first of his eight conversions.

Then it was Brining’s turn to do similar, with a trademark try from dummy-half. Twice.

His first was almost par for the course for the hooker, while his second was an absolute cracker from distance – although it showcased some terrible tackling almost as much as his strong left-handed hand-off.

Hemel’s defending in the first quarter alone showed why they had lost to amateur opposition in the Challenge Cup.

Jordan Crowther – who seems to be getting better with every week of his loan - then broke through on his own for the fifth try to cap a fine personal show, and Josh Tonks was only denied the sixth as Pat Smith’s pass was called forward.

Smith was having his first outing this season, starting on the bench, after returning from work commitments in Germany, but fitted back in seamlessly.

Dale and big loanee Osbourne, meanwhile, made decent debuts in the pack off the bench. Ex-Featherstone second-row Dale will surely be a good signing when he gets up to speed, while Osbourne certainly enjoyed his collisions.

It wasn’t long before the sixth try did come, Tyler Craig with his first contribution of note superbly giving Adam Dent the chance to finish – both players among those coming into the team, the latter for his 2016 bow.

Hemel, for their part, were giving a debut to Rory Sharratt, signed from Gloucestershire All Golds after a quick scramble to find a new hooker after their regular nine was called up for Armed Services duty.

They should have got on the scoreboard before half-time on the back of two penalties kindly donated by referee Liam Moore.

However, strong goal-line defence has been a feature of York’s winning start to term and, after Liam O’Callaghan was held up over the try-line, Jonny Presley and Ben Dent smartly got underneath Alex Gilbey when the home centre looked sure to touch down.

They also had a great chance from a scrum in the red zone after Adam Dent’s poor fumble, but the opportunity went when Ben Stead chose the wrong pass and saw it die on winger Reece Rance.

York were not so profligate, Craig showing great hands to take in a Nicklas kick before skipping past the last man for a 38-0 interval lead.

Tonks, having been unlucky in the first half, got the scoreboard ticking again in the second - Jonny Presley getting a late whack in the build-up, leading to a bit of push and shove in back play.

The biggest hit of the day followed – Osbourne or Ed Smith, or both, sending Kual Green flying backwards like a cartoon character, only for the moment to be wasted as the doughty Green milked a penalty.

From the free-kick, O’Callaghan was again held up from dummy-half.

Pat Smith had no such trouble at the other end, marking his return by digging over.

Hemel’s try, following a spill by Russ Spiers, was a cracker – Stead crossing and converting after a fine run down the middle alongside prop Mike Stewart.

But York soon struck back, Wilkinson scoring his second under the sticks and Brining completing his second hat-trick on this little ground in as many visits.

Hemel thereafter forced two late dropouts but for no further reward.

MATCH FACTS

Hemel 6 Knights 60

Hemel: Spearing, Petelo, Toms, Gilbey, Rance, Isles, Stead, Stewart, Sharratt, Ross, Green, Paterson, Swindells. Subs (all used): Coker, Bowdich, Booth, O’Callaghan.

Try: Stead 65. Conversion: Stead 65.

Knights: Wilkinson 7, B Dent 6, Bower 6, Craig 7, A Dent 6, Presley 7, Nicklas 7, Waller 7, Brining 8, Spiers 6, Tonks 7, E Smith 7, Emmett 7. Subs (all used): P Smith 7, Dale 7, Crowther 8, Osbourne 7.

Tries: E Smith 5; Wilkinson 10, 68; Brining 14, 17, 72; Crowther 25; A Dent 29; Craig 38; Tonks 46; P Smith 54.

Conversions: Nicklas 9, 15, 18, 24, 38, 46, 56, 68.

Man of the match: Kriss Brining – most of the expansion teams struggle to handle the hooker and that was the case again here as he bagged his second hat-trick at Pennine Way in consecutive visits.

Referee: Liam Moore (Wigan) – okay.

Penalty count: 8-8

Weather: bit breezy.

Half-time: 0-38

Attendance: 152

Moment of the match: Kriss Brining’s second try might have showcased the Stags’ awful defence but it was still some finish, with his trademark left-hand hand-off shoving tacklers away he there and everywhere as he scored a try from dummy-half he had no right to score.

Gaffe of the match: It didn’t prove costly but Adam Dent shouldn’t have dropped a straightforward pass from Richard Wilkinson 20 metres from his own line.

Gamebreaker: Kriss Brining’s two solo tries in three minutes inside the first quarter made it 22-0 and, even though the Stags had got up the other end a few times, it was never going to be anything other than a heavy scoreline thereafter.

Match rating: As the Knights’ official timekeeper John Thorpe put it, “It was just like Gate Helmsley - all yar-sided”. He was referring to the place near Stamford Bridge where the houses are all on one side of the village. “Yar-sided” is farmer speak for “one-sided”, apparently.