SINCE Whitehaven and York City Knights last met at the Recreation Ground, the two sides could scarcely have stepped down more divergent paths.

From the 11 matches played since they dumped York out of the Betfred Challenge Cup through a 38-12 victory, Whitehaven have won just twice, losing the other nine.

The Knights meanwhile have reeled off nine victories from their 10 matches.

Whitehaven's pair of victories came over the Betfred Championship's bottom two, Workington Town (22-14) and Dewsbury Rams (18-26) as Haven have fallen down the ladder, currently finding themselves 11th, four points adrift of the two relegation places.

The manner of the nine defeats will have particularly concerned those in Cumbria while also offering some confidence to York, ahead of the club's meeting at 'the Recre' on Sunday (3pm).

At least 30 points were conceded in all but one of the losses, with a 78-0 thrashing by division leaders Featherstone Rovers a particular low point.

From 15 league matches this year, Haven have let in 510 points, the second-worst in the Championship. Only foot-of-the-table Workington have shipped more.

Having seen mercurial half-back Louis Jouffret and top try-scorer Lachlan Walmsley depart for Halifax Panthers and Ellis Gillam join regional rivals Barrow Raiders in the off-season, Whitehaven were always likely to struggle to replicate last season's heroic sixth-placed play-off finish.

With that said, to have suffered such comprehensive victories to fellow bottom-half opposition, such as Widnes Vikings (56-16) and Sheffield Eagles (6-44), will have frustrated Whitehaven.

As the March cup tie proved though, it would be foolish to write off Whitehaven, particularly on home soil, even amid an under-par campaign to date.