YORK City Knights will have to cut out the blunders that blighted their friendly against Hull yesterday if they are to avoid a hammering in their first competitive game.

The Knights kick-off their Northern Rail Cup campaign at home to Hull KR next Sunday and if they err even half as much as they did in the first half-hour yesterday, they are in for a pasting.

Hull, starting with four Super League first-teamers and a mixture of fringe and Academy players, scored five tries in that time, all on the back of individual errors.

Full-back Lee Lingard's fumble led to the visitors' first - half-back Tommy Lee's pass caught Jon Liddell in no-man's land for centre Craig Hall to score - and set the early pattern.

Young winger Tom Dunmore also fluffed a catch after getting into a good position to cover a grubber, while a penalty, albeit a pedantic one, for a bad play-the-ball by the otherwise impressive John Smith kept the Knights in defensive mode.

And when they did threaten an attack, Lee Paterson's pass on half-way was taken by brilliant Aussie winger Nathan Blacklock for an interception try.

Handling errors were not the only problem - three missed tackles saw Ade Adebisi get over from 35 yards when it seemed all angles were covered.

The Hull winger crossed again on the back of another knock-on, and then Craig Farrell rose high to collect a bomb but dropped it when crash-landing for Kirk Dixon to score.

In those 27 minutes, the Knights had completed few sets. In fact, only a couple of hits from Dean O'Loughlin - who hobbled off with a knee problem - and a decent half-break from Farrell, plus his good tackle on Blacklock, was all York had to cheer.

Referee Ronnie Laughton got in on the error count when he missed a knock-on by Hull on their way to forcing a drop-out. This kept York on the back foot and some brilliant handling saw Dixon cross again for a 32-0 half-time lead.

Hull were making all the half-breaks until another good Farrell run brought York their first good attack, while the nearest the hosts came was in the next attack when Smith was deemed to have lost the ball when stretching to touch down - although the photograph taken by the Evening Press's Nigel Holland (see back page of main paper) suggested he had grounded the ball.

Boss Mick Cook had rung the changes by this stage, both teams using 22-man match-day squads.

The introduction of Jim Elston livened things up as usual and his break early in the second half, from a David Bates off-load, signalled a much-improved 40 minutes.

Indeed, better handling brought York a number of chances.

Dan Potter would have scored but for a foot in touch by Dunmore and the same touch judge ruled out a first try for teenager Nathan Priestley, being the only man in the stadium to spot an off-the-ball tackle in the race for Paul Thorman's chip.

Thorman's attacking kicks did, however, get York off the mark. Firstly, his through ball was of the Glenn Hoddle mould for Lingard, now on the wing, to score in the corner, and, soon after, Thorman's chip bounced between defenders with Lingard the quickest to react.

Lingard was the sponsors' man of the match, but Matt Blaymire must be leading the race for the number one shirt given the duo's respective performances at full-back.

In between those tries, Scott Rhodes, always looking to take on the defence, broke through, but there was a mix-up with Dan Potter in support and Blacklock prevented the try, while a superb pick-up by Mark Cain, who impressed throughout his stint, was the highlight of another enterprising attack.

Nonetheless, York didn't even win the half as Hull finished with a hat-trick try for Adebisi and a second for Hall.

The scoreline aside, the performance, in the first half at least, was not the morale boost York had wanted, while the costliness of those early errors meant the only silver lining was the fact Hull had not scored without their help.

Still, there was a good second-half improvement and, with a bit of luck, the Knights will have got rid of bloopers before it really matters.

Knights match facts

Rugby League Friendly York City Knights 8, Hull FC 42 (at Huntington Stadium) Knights: Lingard, Dunmore, Potter, Spurr, Farrell, Rhodes, Thorman, Sullivan, Liddell, O'Loughlin, Golden, Smith, Paterson. Subs (all used): Blaymire, Priestley, Bovill, Ward, Forsyth, Watling, Bates, Cain, Elston. Tries: Lingard 58, 69. Conversions: None. Penalties: None. Drop goals: None.

Hull: Saxton, Blacklock, Dixon, Hall, Adebisi, Washbrook, Lee, Higgins, Last, Wheeldon, Dale, Hill, Radford. Subs (all used): King, Wiseman, Bibb, McLocklan, Mitchell, Scott, Thackeray, Sloan, Benson. Tries: Hall 5, 77; Blacklock 12; Adebisi 15, 23, 73; Dixon 27, 32. Conversions: Dixon 5, 12, 23, 32; McLocklan 77. Penalties: None. Drop goals: None.

Half-time: 0-32.

Referee: Ronnie Laughton (Barnsley).

Penalty count: 5-5.

Attendance: 1,812.