York City were relegated to the Nationwide Conference after another defeat, which in turn created a new club record 18 games without a win.

A noisy Belle Vue with the City fans in good voice provided a fine atmosphere for the occasion, but City started poorly and the match was as good as over by 8 minutes.

Firstly, good work from the left wing from Rovers created a simple tap in for Blundell, on just 2 minutes. Then, on 8 minutes Brown scored a second, and City's dreams of staying in the Football League looked slim.

York gradually asserted themselves on the game as the half went on, just about shading it, but without creating any chances at all to note.

At the start of the second half, Dunning scored a free kick from 25 yards to put City right back in it. At that stage, a draw looked as if it could have been possible should City find the right ball into the penalty area.

However, the goal proved a catalyst for Doncaster to attack again, and after a 25 yard pile driver hit the bar, and Merris cleared off the line in a resulting scramble, the result was confirmed with Brown again heading in a cross to confirm relegation for City, as results elsewhere went against them.

Ovendale 5 - Could have perhaps done a little better with a couple of the goals, but otherwise okay.

Edmondson 5 - Not particularly impressive from Edmo today.

Merris 6 - Not at his best but always a willing outlet on the left.

Smith 6 - Shows a touch of class at times, but not the player of last season.

Wise 7 - Gritty, determined performance. He's improved a lot recently.

Wood 4 - Oh dear. Brown and Blundell caused him problems all day simply to do with their physical stature. Not strong enough to be a centre back, or perhaps even to play 3rd Division football.

Cooper 6 - Gutsy from Cooper but still lacking in the skill department.

Brass 6 - As above.

Dunning 7 - Showed plenty of determination and scored his 2nd goal in two games. My choice for player of the season.

Newby 5 - Full of running but a poor final cross let him down on a number of occasions.

George 4 - I cannot remember a single thing he did of note today.

Subs:

Law 5 - Not sure about distribution or how good he is going forward, but looks sold defensively at least.

Bell 4 - Again, made little contribution to the game.

Arthur 5 - Not sure about his build and height - could be another Wood, or a Turley. Can't remember much of note, looked a little nervous understandably. Let's hope he finds the experience useful.

So, looking back over the season, much divides City fans as to why the club is to play in the Conference next year. Many feel Brass' management is to blame, others prefer to look back to Craig and Batchelor, but whoever is to blame for it, York City will start next season as a Conference club, barring some crazy scorelines for the last 2 games.

Report by David Venables

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