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York City 2-0 Crawley Town |
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By Max Benson
City scored twice in the opening 10 minutes to secure a third successive win and move up to 7th in the Blue Square Premier table.
Martin Foyle kept faith with the side that demolished Histon last week with David McGurk still sidelined with a hamstring injury. Levi Mackin was back among the substitutes after recovering from a foot infection.
Crawley boss Steve Evans had no such luxuries with five first team players unavailable. Simon Rusk made a first return to KitKat Crescent after his summer move to Sussex.
City flew out of the traps and came within inches of a goal after just one minute. Alex Lawless broke free from midfield and found Adam Smith who drove the ball to the back post. Andy Ferrell arrived in an abundance of space but drove narrowly wide from 12 yards.
In a repeat of last weekend, City scored the vital early goal. On 6 minutes Richard Brodie fought superbly to win the ball from Crawley centre back Dominic Collins who went on to trip the forward just inside the area. Collins received a booking and Brodie slotted the spot kick home with ease, sending ‘keeper Simon Rayner the wrong way.
And on 10 minutes one became two. Brodie pulled the ball inside to Michael Gash who expertly turned his man before driving underneath Rayner in front of the delighted fans in the David Longhurst Stand.
Brodie, who was all over the pitch in the early stages, was causing havoc again in the 12th minute, running clear of the visitors’ defence before scuffing his shot wide of the right hand post.
Another effort came courtesy of Smith on 19 minutes, jinking back and forth and finding just enough room to shoot comfortably over from the edge of the area.
After some neat interplay with Neil Barrett, Brodie then had another chance, firing a yard over from 20 yards out.
City were once again running riot on home turf and on 24 minutes a Smith shot fell to Purkiss towards the right hand side of the box. The full back’s drive across goal reached Gash who spun and fired narrowly over with the visitors chasing shadows.
The away side began to come back into the game however, and their first meaningful attempt came from Adam Barton, an ambitious drive deflected over from 25 yards.
By this stage City were enduring a frustrating period of play, with the Minstermen trying to play attractive football and visitors solely focussed on trying to stop them.
The combative nature of the game was highlighted in the 35th minute as a strong challenge from Ferrell left Rusk in a heap on the floor, earning the no-nonsense Geordie a yellow card.
There was nearly a third goal just before half time though as Ferrell once again teamed up with Brodie. This time the latter was set free through the centre only for his shot to be parried round the post.
The second half saw the blustering wind behind the away side, who took the opportunity to belt a series of long balls upfield, bypassing the midfield which had been hitherto dominated by Lawless and Barrett.
As expected, the Minstermen were having more work to do at the back than in the first half as Adam Barton shot wide before Kieran Djilali forced a smart save from Michael Ingham on 49 minutes.
On 55 minutes Adam Quinn came close to a goal at his own end, connecting well with a Meredith cross from the left, diverting the ball over his own bar with Rayner stranded.
City’s best method against eleven men and a stiff breeze seemed to be the counter attack and one such break nearly paid off just after the hour mark as Brodie again gave his marker the slip before seeing his shot deflected behind.
The Minstermen were inches away from putting the game to bed on 75 minutes. Smith dribbled down the right and cut into the area, performed multiple stepovers and slid an inviting ball across the front of goal. With Rayner left in no man’s land, Ferrell threw himself forward and was a whisker away from connecting with the ball needing just a touch.
Daniel Parslow led by example at the back, particularly in the second period, winning header after header with Crawley’s best chance for some time being a free kick on the edge of the box which was wasted by Sam Rents, who drilled it low into City’s defensive wall.
On 84 minutes Meredith created a chance for himself in a rare foray forwards, bursting into the box and driving over the bar after yet more enterprising play involving Brodie and Ferrell.
Substitute Daniel Powell had a half chance to get the visitors back in the game in the 88th minute, flicking a cross from the left towards Ingham’s bottom right hand corner, only for the City ‘keeper to smother it comfortably.
Barrett nearly ended the game in style deep into stoppage time, exploiting space in the Crawley defence and curling a 20 yard shot just over the bar.
It was a richly deserved 2-0 win for the Minstermen. Having scored two crucial goals early on, City stuck to their task in disciplined fashion as Man of The Match Parslow provided composure and leadership to complement Jimmy Sangare’s enthusiasm and bravery, securing a third home clean sheet of the season in the process.
City now make the long trip to Barrow on Tuesday with a view to making it four straight wins.
Line-Ups
York City (4-4-2) – Ingham, Purkiss, Sangare, Parslow, Meredith, Smith, Lawless, Barrett, Ferrell (Mackin 84), Brodie, Gash
Subs Not Used – O’Hare, Nelthorpe, Mimms, Rankine
Crawley Town (4-4-2) – Rayner, Rusk, Collins (Pinault 45), Quinn, Rents, Forrest, Hutchinson, Barton, Carruthers (Cogan 64), Djilali, Louis (Powell 72)
Subs Not Used – Killeen, Malcolm
Referee – Mr Mark Heywood (Cheshire)
Yellow Cards – Lawless, Ferrell (City) Collins, Hutchinson, Quinn (Crawley)
Man of the Match – Daniel Parslow
Attendance - 2,139 (38 Crawley)
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Upcoming fixtures at York City FC
24th August - AFC Barrow - 7.45pm KO
28th August - Altrincham 3pm KO
4th September - Rushden & Diamonds 3pm KO
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