PROOF that the corner has been well and truly turned. York City Knights travelled to South Leeds Stadium to take on a Hunslet Hawks side which had lost only once in six National League Two games and had conceded just 122 points.

They were flying high in second place, yet their wings were thoroughly clipped by Paul Broadbent's men, who went up another notch in registering a 40-18 win.

The Knights began the season poorly, but a morale-boosting win at Barrow was followed by a

second-half hammering of Swinton.

That form was improved yet further as they outclassed one of the main title contenders on their own patch yesterday to complete a hat-trick of consecutive wins for the first time in the club's short history.

It was not the perfect performance - there were mistakes and some sloppiness at times - but it was at times dazzling and this scoreline against the wannabe champions holds no lies and proves that York's promotion charge is gathering pace.

The one drawback was that results elsewhere ensured the Knights rose only one place in the table, but the fact they remain in the bottom half should not disguise the fact this team are on the up and up.

It was not as if the fans were overly concerned either. An impressive contingent of visiting support turned a corner of South Leeds Stand into a sea of blue and their loud vocal backing made the clash a virtual home game for the Knights.

They were rewarded from the off as their side stamped their class on the game with two tries in the first ten minutes.

Props Craig Forsyth and Rich Hayes set the foundation for the early superiority with 20 minutes of fearsome front-row play and from a sharp pass by the former Trevor Krause jinked into a gap 40 metres out, outstripped his man and beat the full-back with curious ease.

Brough converted and three minutes later booted a great 40-20 to set the position from which he fed Mick Ramsden, who beat his opponent and gave the scoring pass to Lee Jackson. Brough converted.

Just as notable as the Knights' attack was their defence. Enthusiastic and hard-working, it barely allowed Hunslet to breathe and it proved York's saviour on a few occasions when sloppy sets gave the Hawks attacking possession.

Try-saving tackles early on by Mark Cain and Chris Smith on Wayne Freeman and by Leigh Deakin on Steve Jakeman sapped ebullience from the hosts, and the Knights' ardour was still alive at the death as Alex Godfrey somehow denied Bryn Powell when a home try looked odds-on.

Krause, meanwhile, was the epitome of superb defence, and he even won a penalty from one of his several important tackles when Hawks scrum-half Phil Hasty embarrassingly failed to con the officials by holding him on top.

The pressure relieved, York went down the other end and Ramsden and Graeme Hallas combined to put Deakin in down the right, the winger choosing to cut inside and use his power to get over. Brough converted superbly.

York should have scored again when a wonderful flowing move set Smith away but, with Neil Law asking for a scoring pass, pressure saw the ball come lose. It didn't matter, though, as two minutes later Brough darted through a hole on the diagonal to cross and convert.

At 24-0 down, the Hawks needed to score first in the second half to have any chance of coming back, but within seconds of the restart they fell further behind as Knights half-backs Scott Rhodes and Brough combined to send speedy full-back Smith on a sizzling 65-yard sprint to the line.

The victory virtually assured, the Knights would no doubt have now wanted to keep a clean sheet. However, the Hawks - the second-highest points scorers in the division going into the match - soon got on the scoreboard as Hasty, who was lucky not to be carded late in the first half for a high tackle on Krause, darted through to score and convert.

Any slight hopes the hosts had of a comeback ended five minutes later as a clever short pass from Rhodes sent Darren Callaghan through on a great line, Brough converting.

Some more superb off-the-cuff rugby put Deakin in only for his try to be ruled out for a forward pass but it mattered not as Hunslet slipped up after the scrum with Cain kicking the ball into the goal area and winning the race. Brough converted.

The result would have been even more convincing but for late converted tries by the Hawks' Wes McGibbon and Chris Parker, stemming from a mixture of complacency from the visitors and home pride from the hosts.

Nonetheless, any late disappointment was utterly overshadowed by the overall delight.

Match Facts:

Hawks: Raynor, Powell, Seal, McGibbon, Jakeman, Doherty, Hasty, Pryce, J Wray, Burton, W Freeman, S Ibbetson, Higgins. Subs (all used): Bastow, Fearon, Lockwood, Parker.

Tries: Hasty 45, McGibbon 70, Parker 79.

Cons: Hasty 45, 70, 79.

Pens: None.

Knights: Smith 8, Godfrey 8, Hallas 7, Law 7, Deakin 8, Rhodes, 8, Brough 9, Hayes 8, Jackson 8, Forsyth 8, Ramsden 8, Cain 8, Krause 9. Subs (all used): Kama 8, Callaghan 8, Burland 8, Broadbent 7.

Tries: Krause 6, Jackson 10, Deakin 26, Brough 33, Smith 41, Callag-han 51, Cain 56.

Cons: Brough 6, 10, 26, 33, 51, 56.

Pen: None.

Man of the match

Danny Brough - great kicking game from the stand-off, allied to some fine passing, all capped off with an individual try.

Updated: 11:35 Monday, June 16, 2003