Nick Wright previews this weekend's clash between York City Knights and Hull FC
Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
James Tompkinson reviews an excellent pre-season victory for the York City Knights against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos
On a night when most people were watching England’s depressingly poor performance against France, I attended a much more thrilling encounter: York City FC’s FA Cup first round replay against Rotherham.
After drawing 0-0 away with the League Two side, York welcomed Rotherham to Bootham Crescent for the replay. Having only been to one match not at Old Trafford before, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Being frisked at the turnstiles definitely wasn’t on my list. However, after proving ourselves to be no football hooligan, we entered the stadium and headed for the burger stand.
Armed with burgers and hot drinks, we positioned ourselves behind the goal in the David Longhurst Stand, nervously waiting for the match to start. With York lying 19th in the Blue Square Premier and Rotherham 6th in League two – that’s 41 teams between them! – it looked like it could be a tough night for The Minstermen.
The players proved us wrong straight from kick-off. After only three minutes, York came close to taking the lead when right-back Parslow fired over with only the keeper to beat. And although the next twenty minutes were fairly even, with both good and poor play from both sides, Rotherham began to dominate, exploiting York down the left wing multiple times. Their dominance began to pay as they had two opportunities to take the lead: Brogan’s strike rebounded off the inside of the post and then the same man fired wide of an open goal soon after. This fired up the away team and just before the break, Rotherham front man Le Fondre found himself one-on-one with York keeper Ingham but could only blast the ball over the bar. York City looked relieved to hear the half-time whistle and were lucky to go in with the score-line still 0-0.
The second half saw York recapture some of their early good form and they began to dominate the midfield play. The Rotherham fans, whose deathly silence had surprised many, especially when their team looked like scoring in the first half, livened up a little and tried to encourage their players. However, York were outplaying the League Two side and deservedly took the lead just after the hour mark. A free kick sailed over everyone, looking harmless, but was whipped back in from the left and headed home by Chris Smith before the Rotherham defence had time to react. The home fans went wild; the Rotherham fans retreated back into silence.
York grew from strength to strength and only four minutes later had the chance to double their lead. Fyfield was tugged back as he made a great run into the penalty area and the referee quite rightly pointed to the spot. Rankine powerfully slotted home to give his side a 2-0 lead and celebrated his goal with a spectacular summersault, much to the delight of the jubilant crowd.
York were out to embarrass Rotherham: even more chances came along as a spectacular free-kick hit the crossbar and loud shouts for a handball were turned down. But York finally got the third goal they so deserved when Rankine, nipping into penalty area past two defenders, running away from goal, turned and curled a wonderful shot across the hapless keeper into the bottom right-hand corner. Wild celebrations followed as York had surely secured the win.
The final whistle went, confirming the 3-0 victory and York’s place in the 2nd round of the FA Cup. The York faithful were ecstatic and chants of “We're going to Wembley” were heard from around the terraces. The next match will be played away to Darlington on November 27th. The only down side to the night was singing “We love you City we do” – as a die-hard Manchester United fan, any allusion to our bitter rivals gives an unpleasant feeling. We clapped and sung our way out of the stadium, oblivious to the bitter cold and warmed by York’s success.
Attendance: 2,644
York: Ingham, Parslow, Smith, McGurk, Meredith, Smith (Mackin 87), Sangare, Carruthers (Fyfield 62), Racchi, McDermott (Barrett 77), Rankine
Rotherham: Annerson, Newey, Fenton, Ashworth, Mullins, Law, Brogan (Ellison 75), Bradley, Marshall, Le Fondre, Taylor
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