Accrington 2-2 York City Mullin 68 Roberts 70   Maloney 51 Bishop 65 Monday 28 March 2005, Nationwide Conference Attendance: 2,201

York conceded two headed goals to gain only a point from a match in which they led by two goals to nil. The result however, against play off chasing opposition, on paper seems a good one.

City started fairly well, creating some good chances against a nervous looking Accrington defence. Merris' header from a Bishop cross was perhaps the best chance, however it went high and wide of Accrington's former City goalkeeper Crichton, nicknamed "the Clown" for some recent goalkeeping displays and taunted throughout by the City support due to the reasons for his departure from the club. Accrington's only real chance of the first half was when Porter tipped away a long range effort. However, City's defence looked solid with Davis especially very strong against Accrington's top scorer Mullin.

After half time, City took the lead on 51 minutes. The awesome Donovan's corner was prodded home by on loan defender Maloney. Seconds afterwards, City should have taken a two goal lead, with Jackson selfishly electing to go for goal when a square ball to the unmarked Bishop would have surely made it 2-0.

However, that miss seemed not to matter when top scorer Bishop netted his eleventh goal of the season with a drive from 15 yards which took a heavy deflection of a home defender to leave Crichton with no chance in the Stanley goal.

But that goal seemed to change the game with Accrington becoming a different side. Their aerial strength caused City problems and but for a yard or so they would have claimed all three points.

However one of the goals arrived from a poor throw in decision from the linesman (I seem to remember it being the second, but others think differently and it could have been the first) where a Stanley player ran towards the penalty area but ran the ball out of play for a clear City throw. However, the linesman decided to give the decision to the home team, resulting in a barrage of abuse from the City faithful because the decision was so obviously wrong and not even in doubt.

The first goal was from a right wing cross around 70 minutes, headed in by Mullin, and about 90 seconds afterwards a left wing cross was headed in by substitute Roberts.

The remainder of the game saw Accrington add significant pressure to the City goal, with the 6 minutes of additional time played by the referee making the travelling army of around 300 very nervous. Accrington's only corner of the game was won in the last minute of added time, with a header from it going barely a yard wide. Finally, to the relief of fans, the referee blew for full time and City claimed a point.

Player Ratings

Chris PORTER 6:
A good save in the first half, otherwise not that troubled. Could do nothing about either goal.

Graeme LAW 6:
Solid but unspectacular display.

Steve DAVIS 7:
Coped well with the aerial strength of Accrington. Won some key headers in the last ten minutes.

Jon MALONEY 7:
Another good finish for City's first, usual solid display in defence.

Shaun SMITH 6.5 (Sub'ed 74mins):
Much improved display from the veteran defender. No major mistakes, still leaves Merris a lot of work to do in my opinion though.

Levent YALCIN 5 (Sub'ed 84mins):
Anonymous. Barely noticed he was playing.

Kevin DONOVAN 6:
Some good deliveries from set plays at times, however fairly quiet otherwise.

Darren DUNNING 5.5:
Don't think he'll ever pass it forwards. Another disappointing game from last season's player of the year.

Ben JACKSON 5.5 (Sub'ed 74mins):
Same number shirt as Nogan, and seems about as much use to the team as he was after another very average performance. Can't fault workrate, he seems quick but makes the wrong decisions in front of goal.

Andy BISHOP 7.5 MotM:
Man of the Match - deserved a goal, worked exceptionally hard and always a threat to the home sides defence.

Substitutes

Paul GROVES 7 (On 74mins):
Useful substitute, won some key headers in the last few minutes.

Paul D ROBINSON 5 (On 74mins):
Didn't get involved.

Byron WEBSTER N/A (On 84mins):
Not enough time to give a fair rating.

The Referee

P CANDADINE 6.5 (South Yorkshire):
Generally did okay, however seemed to add on far too much additional time at the end of the game. The linesman on the near side in the second half made a very poor decision though which turned the game.

Overall Verdict

Much improved from the display at Tamworth, City can be encouraged by their point although if they had defended better it would have been all three. Two points dropped rather than a point gained judging by the game itself, however on paper the points are definitely useful with tough games against Carlisle and Hereford in weeks to come.

Report by David Venables

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