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By Max Benson
City return from the west coast with a hard earned point after securing a fourth clean sheet of the season at Holker Street.
Martin Foyle, as expected, left his side unchanged from the weekend. Jimmy Sangare retained his place at the heart of defence alongside Daniel Parslow although David McGurk was deemed fit enough for a return to the bench after a hamstring injury.
Barrow, who were hammered 6-1 at home by Rushden & Diamonds last weekend, were without the suspended Simon Spender. Paul Jones and Robin Hulbert dropped to the bench and former City loanee Jon Shaw missed out altogether as Barrow looked to bounce back against the Minstermen.
City looked to start in similar fashion to the last two Saturday’s and forced a corner as early as the 2nd minute, Adam Smith tricked his way down the right before forcing Phil Bolland to belt the ball over his own bar.
Barrow were looking to play decent football early on, with Paul Rutherford in particular causing James Meredith all sorts of problems down the old inside right position.
The Minstermen had their first shot on target in the 14th minute. Richard Brodie’s effort across goal found its way to Neil Barrett in yards of space on the edge of the area. The end product was lacking though as the former Portsmouth midfielder shot straight at Tim Deasy.
Just a minute later Brodie engineered himself some room just outside the box, as he does so often, before bending his left foot shot over Deasy’s crossbar.
City should have been ahead on 21 minutes. Michael Gash burrowed in behind the home defence and shot against the underside of the bar before seeing the ball cleared with himself and Sangare closing in.
The wind and rain was at the backs of the Barrow side, driving them forward and a series of long range efforts peppered the terrace behind Michael Ingham’s goal.
And the home side’s apparent policy of shooting from only 30 yards out or more nearly paid off on 26 minutes. Mark Boyd was afforded far too much room through the middle and he took the opportunity to fizz a dipping shot a yard over the bar.
Jason Walker then showed on 38 minutes why he is attracting the interest of several league clubs, executing a bicycle kick from 20 yards that went wide of Ingham’s right hand post.
With both sides fighting for supremacy, the second half began as a far scrappier affair. Bond nearly lit up the first 10 minutes with yet another long range shot, this time a volley which drifted left of goal.
City then had a glorious chance to take the lead on 58 minutes. Smith found space down the right, cut inside and fired a ball to the back post only for Brodie’s diving header to fly wide of the left hand post from less than 10 yards out.
City looked to add strength to their front line after the hour mark as Foyle introduced Michael Rankine at the expense of Andy Ferrell in an encouragingly positive move.
Gash then won a free kick in a good position on 67 minutes, only for Brodie to fire into the arms of Deasy who gathered with minimal fuss.
There was clear evidence of resilience and fighting spirit from the home side - presumably the proverbial backlash after their weekend drubbing, and City were finding it hard to break through as the Bluebirds defended in numbers whilst still looking dangerous on the break.
Boyd did save his side from defeat in the 83rd minute though. Alex Lawless latched onto a corner on the edge of the area, driving a shot destined for the top right hand corner. Boyd had stayed tight to his line though and he stooped well to head away from danger.
In the end, a draw was a fair result in what was a hard fought battle. Sangare and Parslow again held firm at the back to deny their opponents as both sides strived unsuccessfully for a winning goal.
City return to KitKat Crescent next Saturday to test their five match unbeaten run against 2nd placed Kettering Town.
Line-Ups
York City (4-4-2) – Ingham, Purkiss, McGurk, Parslow, Meredith, Smith, Lawless, Barrett, Ferrell (Rankine 65), Brodie, Gash
Subs Not Used – O’Hare, McGurk, Nelthorpe, Mackin
Barrow (4-4-2) – Deasy, Pearson, Dugdale, Bolland, Jelleyman, Rutherford, Bond, Boyd, Logan, Walker, Taylor (Hulbert 88)
Subs Not Used – Tomlinson, Jones, Sheridan, Bayliss
Referee – Mr C Harwood (Manchester)
Yellow Cards – Jelleyman (Barrow)
Man of the Match – Jimmy Sangare
Attendance – 1,120
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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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