Football 1sts have to wait for first BUCS league win

A scrappy goal from a set-piece and two late counter-attacks when York were pressing for an equaliser meant York's 1st XI travelled back from Durham empty-handed.

Wednesday's game started at a frantic pace and didn’t slow down much throughout the first half. Within seconds Durham had had their first shot on goal but Paul Taylor, deputising for the young Emmerson in goal, was untroubled on that occasion. Whilst Emmerson’s timing has never been great - fishing for jobs in global finance during the biggest financial crisis in decades and wearing a watch that stopped weeks ago are but a few examples - Taylor timed his jump perfectly to tip a lob onto the bar and out for a corner. This came seconds after a period of concerted Durham pressure that had already seen a drilled shot rebound off the crossbar.

Despite these chances York looked organised and were dealing well with the majority of what Durham threw at them. At the other end Gouland and Cox had the beating of the Durham centre-backs in the air and held the ball up well to bring York’s wing-backs into the game. It was from moves down the right-hand side that York created their best openings of the first half. A Wilson cross was met firmly by Gouland but the veteran’s header was miraculously saved down to the goalkeeper’s left.

Intricate passing involving the whole midfield five culminated in McWilliams’ cross finding Wilson just outside the box whose powerfully hit volley was tipped over, denying what would have been a definite contender for goal of the season. McWilliams was again involved when the ball broke to him inside the area but his left-footed shot slid tantalisingly close past the wrong side of the post.

The end to end nature of the game continued to the half, at which point the visitors decided that due to the space Durham’s full-backs were getting, allowing them to double up with their wingers against a solitary York wing-back, that they would switch from 3-5-2 to 4-5-1. Cox was replaced by Swan who now partnered Gardner at centre-back, pushing the wing-backs into orthodox winger roles. Skipper Witherwick’s tactical change had the desired effect of restricting the time Durham’s full-backs had but left Gouland frustratingly isolated leading the line alone.

Ten minutes into the second half the deadlock was broken after York failed to deal with a corner that was flicked on and looped up invitingly for the purple-clad Durham striker to bicycle kick the ball past Taylor. This was the first goal York had conceded in over 360 minutes of football and how they responded would be telling. The signs were good as the team pulled together and pushed for an equaliser. The already stretched game became even more so as York gambled.

The tables had turned and now it was time for the away side’s full-backs to pin back the opposition wingers as Evans and McKellow both looked to get balls into the box. One such Evans cross was whipped ferociously into the penalty-box where Gouland directed a solid header into the bottom right corner, only for the Durham ‘keeper to once again scramble across his goal and make an outstanding save.

Not to be outdone, at the other end Taylor pulled off several fantastic stops as Durham exploited York’s desperation to equalise. Just after a Gouland effort was tipped onto the crossbar Murphy was brought on for Wilson and partnered Gouland in attack with 15 minutes to go. The Derwent striker’s famed education obviously didn’t include a finishing school however as his lengthy goal drought continued and soon two sucker punches put the game beyond York’s grasp.

Durham’s second came after the stretched midfield allowed a runner through and the York defence failed to deal with him as he struck the ball low and hard into the corner from 16 yards. This dented York’s confidence and a mere 5 minutes later the defence was breached again when the back four seemed to step up in tandem rendering the Durham number nine offside, however without a linesman the referee was faced with a tough decision and he allowed play to continue. The striker rounded Taylor and slotted home to make the score a generous 3 – 0 to Durham with only a few minutes to play.

The result looks fairly conclusive but captain Mat Witherwick will know that on another day York could have grabbed the first goal and travelled home with their first BUCS league win under their belts. As it was they’ll have to wait a bit longer but even if the points aren’t in the bag, at least the performances, individually and collectively, are promising.

Team: Taylor; McKellow, Gardner, Evans; Cooper, McWilliams, Witherwick, McLeod, Wilson (Murphy); Cox (Swan), Gouland

In other football news the 1st team recovered well from their dissapointment at Durham with a hard-fought 3 - 1 victory away at UCLAN today. The 2nds lost 4 - 1 and the 3rds were unlucky to go down 1 - 0 thanks to a late UCLAN winner. Reports to follow.

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