York's Mens 2nd XI disappoint in 1-1 draw with Northumbria 4ths

York's traditional pre match huddle

Had York been blessed with a quality striker then they could easily have put the game to bed inside the first half, but with Murphy unfit and fresher Oomen playing in an unfamiliar position chances were simply not taken. Remington and Richards provided the biggest dangers to the Northumbria goal from set pieces, with two Remington crosses inches away from curling inside the far post.

The visiting side were rash with their challenges, and showed little intention to pass the ball about. Although the referee was, in fairness, pretty weak, Northumbria did not help themselves by diving into challenges over-aggressively.

Doing so constantly invited pressure onto their own back four, which was eventually made to pay when a clean strike from Richards beat the ‘keeper, nestling in the top corner.

The home side carried the paltry single goal lead into half time, where they were urged to get back to passing the ball about on the deck. But they had no idea how much of a different challenge the second half would pose.

Northumbria came out flying, and with conditions in their favour they tested the home defence in a way they hadn’t managed in the first 45. ‘Keeper George Taylor – who had barely touched the ball in the first half – was facing a stiff task to protect the narrow advantage. The third year ‘keeper was struggling to get any real distance on clearances into the strong headwind, inviting constant pressure. However, much like the home side found in the first half, pressure did not lead to goals.

Northumbria proved most dangerous when breaking with the wind in their backs. After a sharp one on one save was ruled irrelevant when offside was given, Northumbria smelt blood.

With Remington trying to lead from left back and instil calmness into the side, space was created between himself and Carl Worrall. This space was exploited when a Northumbria striker was able to get a firm shot away inside the area, one which the home ‘keeper could only manage to deflect across the face of the goal, leaving an onrushing forward a tap in.

Northumbria kept the pressure on the home side after equalising, and came closest to taking the lead when a long range shot seemed destined for the top corner. But Taylor capped a fine goalkeeping display when stretching out every inch of his 6’3” frame to tip the ball just wide of the goal.

“I think I’ve already made my best save of the season.” said the home ‘keeper. “It was just one of those moments you dream about, moments that come so rarely. It’s nice to have played well and had a positive effect on the outcome of the game, but it’s difficult to escape the fact we really should have won today. It’s disappointing to play well when the team doesn’t win.”

Reflecting on the performance Remington said: “We started playing long aerial football, but it just wasn’t the day to play it. We needed to keep it along the ground as we showed in the last 5 minutes when we started looking good again. In the second half they turned it round, to be fair to them, and in the end we could easily have given away all three points in the second half."

"We need pick up on fitness. We didn’t look fit, up top we were weak, and we need to battle a bit more. There’s definitely more to come from the twos. We’re really looking forward to Saturday’s match against Leeds twos, it’s going to be the toughest game of the season so early on which should make it even harder, but we’ll give them a game.”

President Alex Richards, who started the game well and deserved his goal but drifted out of the game in the second half, preferred to focus on the positives: “It’s a good result. We’re off and running [and] going in the right direction. To be honest we were the better side, so I’ll have to say it’s two points dropped. But in terms of the season, it’s one point won and we’re on our way.”

Richards’ comments resound especially loudly given York’s reputation for slow starts, but with each team unbeaten, confidence is high in UYAFC.

Team Sheet and Player Ratings

• George Taylor – 8 –Accomplished shot stopping and handling, but let down by some weak kicking.

• Remi Remington C – 6 – Average first game as captain, put in some dangerous crosses early on but some mistakes at the back.

• Greg Gardner – 8 – Very solid at right back, brought calmness into midfield when switched there late on. Shared man of the match with Taylor.

• Laurie Swan – 6 – Found the first half much easier, confidence and fitness should improve with games.

• Carl Worrall – 7 – Another solid performance but fell into trap of long aerial balls in second half.

• Alex Richards – 7 – Started brightly and scored a cracking goal, but lost presence in second half when the side needed him the most.

• Dan Sitkin – 6 – Similar game to Richards, started well but drifted out of the game until forced off after a heavy challenge.

• Ed Murrills – 7 – Looked bright down the right flank but wasn’t given much ball to play with, and end product suffered as a result. Had a good chance to win the game towards the end.

• Kit Edwards – 6 – Struggled to win the physical battle in the second half, and similarly to Murrills didn’t have much ball to play with.

• Anton Murphy – 4 – Short of fitness returning from injury and his style of play didn’t suit the physical challenge posed by the conditions. Not given much ball to work off.

• Jeroen Oomen – 7 – Supported Anton in an unfamiliar role, and coped well winning his physical battles.

Subs

• Jay Hewitt – 6 – Not given much opportunity, but made a positive impact when asked to come on.

• Matt Fortman – 6 – Replaced Ed Murrills (who moved up front in place of Murphy) on the right and made some nice runs.

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