Stevenage Borough 1-1 York City (22/4/06)

[Match Reports]

York City ended their away travels with a visit to the concrete jungle that is Stevenage, and came away with a 1-1 draw in a game both sides probably believe that they should have won. Stevenage finished the game with just 9 players, after the referee decided to clamp down on some of the abuse himself and his officials received during the course of the game from the home side.

The first thirty five minutes or so was fairly uneventful, with Stevenage perhaps enjoying slightly more of the possession but creating few chances, apart from a useful low save from City keeper porter following a strike from around 12 yards out. At the other end, much to the annoyance of the home crowd, Clayton Donaldson was giving the Stevenage right back a torrid time and won a succession of free kicks.

However, when the breakthrough did arrive, it was from a foul on O'Neill on the right by Goodliffe. The free kick was floated in, and James Dudgeon superbly stretched to head the ball across goal. Home keeper Alan Julian, the target of plenty of banter from the City terraces, couldn't react quickly enough and Donaldson pounced from close range to prod the ball into the other corner. 1-0 to City.

Stevenage players instantly surrounded the linesman and referee, protesting that the goal was offside. In the melee, Stevenage striker Darryn Stamp was red carded and it looked like City could be on for a good win.

However, just minutes afterwards Stevenage equalised with an unstoppable piledriver into the roof of the net after a corner had only been partially cleared. 1-1. The Hertforshire side looked at their most threatening from corners and set plays due to their superior height advantage and physical style of play.

After half time, Stevenage pushed forward seeking the victory and City were seemingly quite happy to sit back and soak up the pressure. The best chance of the second half for Boro was a cross from Boyd on the left which found giant frontman Jefferson Louis with a relatively easy header from 8 yards out, which he sent wide of the post.

Following the introduction of Mark Convery, City looked much better attacking and should have had a penalty, when Donaldson's skillful run was ended by two cynical challenges from the Boro centre back. The ref, however, bottled the decision, and Stevenage were let off. Soon after, Joe O'Neill missed another couple of good half chances when in space inside the home side's penalty area.

In stoppage time, Stevenage went down to 9 men when Goodliffe was sent off for foul and abusive language. You would have thought Boro had learnt their lesson after the first half incident, but the rest of the game was spent in their half as the Minstermen sought to capitalise on their numerical advantage. In the fifth of seven minutes of stoppage time, the chance to win the game arrived when Convery broke down the right hand side and squared the ball to leading scorer bishop, who had what looked like an easy tap in, only for Julian to save it high to his left. Full time, 1-1, a result both teams wouldn't have wanted given the circumstances.

Player Ratings

porter 7 - Anonymous really, despite Stevenage's long spells of pressure. One good save in the first half and generally seemed sharp and ready when called upon.

price 7 - Solid return to the side, tired near the end and received unwarranted abuse from the home fans when injured.

peat 5 - Another below par display for the out of form left back. The right winger caused him all sorts of problems and he struggled with his passing and crossing for long spells of the game.

mcgurk 8 - Dealt well with the home sides frontmen, the usual dependable display.

dudgeon 9 - Man of the Match - Outstanding. Won every header and continues to improve. Had tricky opponents on the pitch, and looks a much better player with McGurk back in the centre back role rather than the erratic Hotte. The two players work well together and complement each other's style of play.

bishop 7 1/2 - Worked extremely hard in midfield, some neat and tidy touches and good passes.

panther 7 - Improved from recent weeks, strong in possession.

thomas 6 - Not that convincing. His set play delivery was pretty poor for much of the game apart from the Donaldson goal and at times was over run in the midfield.

bishop 5 1/2 - Missed a great chance near the end. Fairly quiet game otherwise.

o'neill 5 1/2 - Continues to look just a bit too lightweight and unable to finish chances.

donaldson 8 - Constant source of menace to the Stevenage defence and a well taken goal.

Subsitutes:

webster 6 - Introduced in the last 10 minutes.

convery 6 1/2 - Added a bit more creativity to midfield when introduced after half time.

Referee 7 - Fairly good performance overall. The home fans hated him, but unlike the clown that ref the game at the KKC between the two sides, Stevenage's dirty and fouling tactics were stopped and he clamped down hard on abuse of the officials. The one blot on his copybook was two blatant missed penalties for City. Maybe he thought that he couldn't make those decisions after sending the Stevenage player off in the first half.

Overall Verdict

A reasonable point, City for once were neither outstanding nor awful. They could have made a little more of the numerical advantage that they had, and at times the midfield was far too narrow with the 4-3-3 system that Billy McEwan selected.

The ref was controversial, but what do you expect at this level? Most refs in this league seem to want to influence games in a major way. Fortunately, this one's decisions went for the Minstermen generally and at least he stopped Stevenage from using the overly physical style of football that they usually play.

Seasonal Verdict

Overall, a good start to Billy McEwan's reign as York City manager with a position many fans thought was unlikely achieved. Some really good players for this level have been discovered, in particular Donaldson, McGurk and Neal Bishop. City have recorded some great wins, especially at the KKC, such as the 5-1 thrashing of FGR and the 5-0 defeat of Altrincham, plus the very entertaining 4-2 win against Exeter. Away from home there have been some good moments too - especially the early season win 4-1 at Southport, but also the 3-1 win at Exeter amongst others. However, especially away there have been some lacklustre displays, perhaps most notably at "the Rochdale of the Conference", perennial midtable side Woking. It's been a mixed bag but overall fairly respectable.

"Match Reporter"'s Player of the Year

david mcgurk - A huge influence on what has been a much tighter defence this season. Dependable and competent, and often makes defending look easy. A must sign for the summer. Other candidates would have been bishop for the 24 goals, donaldson for both goalscoring and adding entertainment back into City's frontline, and Dudgeon for being the most improved player this season.

Good luck for next season lads.