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Bootham Crescent welcomed struggling Kettering Town on Saturday afternoon, and the phrase “you can only beat what it put in front of you” had never been more apt. A scintillating display of patient yet brutally attacking, passing football from York proved to be far too good for their lowly opponents, and to say that 7-0 flattered Kettering would not be an injustice at all.
The most pleasing aspect of York’s performance on Saturday was undoubtedly their clinical finishing, and the fact that there were seven different goal scorers proved that total football was on display for all York fans to admire. Jamie Reed marked a timely return to the side with two excellent finishes in the first half, Jon Challinor added a third on the half hour mark before Matty Blair made it four just before the break. Every time Blair picked the ball up York looked threatening, and for me this was his best performance of the season by a long way. Sometimes I feel that he can often get caught too close to the full back and is starved of space to work in, but on Saturday he brought clever, creative running to the fore and was a real handful down York’s right wing.
By half time York had the game won, and their second half performance oozed class and confidence. Their passing was crisp and precise, and when York get the ball down and play I really do think that they would give a lot of sides playing league football a run for their money. Second half goals from Paddy McLaughlin, Danny Pilkington and Moses Ashikodi inflicted more misery on crisis club Kettering, and manager Gary Mills was quick to praise his players after the game for a thoroughly professional performance.
In reality, there was only ever going to be one way for York to go after such an impressive victory, and they were subjected to a frustrating 0-0 draw away at AFC Telford last night. The surprising aspect of the game for me was the side that Gary Mills picked, dropping Reed and Pilkington from the starting line up despite excellent displays on Saturday. In fairness, there were reports that Reed may have been carrying a slight knock so that could partly explain Gary Mills’ reasoning. Welcoming top scorer Jason Walker and influential midfielder Andre Boucard back to the starting eleven would have also handed Mills a boost, but City struggled to break down a tough Telford outfit and had to settle for a draw in the end.
Still, five clean sheets on the bounce is great testament to the strength of both the York defence and the team in general. City currently sit third in the league, six points behind table topping Wrexham. The chase is well and truly on, and with more clean sheets and good performances, the mighty Minstermen are only heading in one direction.
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