Praise the h-Evans!

Sunny delight: York players bask in the glow of victory

• York 1sts 3
• Durham 2nds 0

A glorious goal from defender Shaun Evans capped off a perfect afternoon for York 1sts last week, as they beat Durham 2nds 3-0.

Three second-half goals from Andy Rixon, Mark Gouland and Evan were enough to see York end their recent run of bad form and keep their first clean sheet of the season.

Despite the team's 3-2 defeat the weekend before, captain Dom O'Shea decided to stick with the 3-5-2 formation that the team had used against Central Lancashire 1sts. O'Shea returned to the side in place of Ed Murrills, while Henry Smith also regained his place in the team at right wing-back, pushing Evans into central defence. Durham set their stall out in a 4-5-1 formation, in an attempt to stifle the attacking threat of the York players.

With five players from each team clogging the midfield, and with the Durham striker cutting a lone figure upfront, chances for both sides were at a premium in the first half. Although both enjoyed good periods of pressure, neither team succeeded in troubling the opposition goalkeeper. The massive bump above O'Shea's eye as a result of a clash between him and the Durham goalkeeper after 14 minutes therefore became not only the highlight of his face, but of the whole first half.

The start of the second half saw one of the goalkeepers called into action for the first time. A cross from the left by O'Shea on 48 minutes was missed by the Durham defender and found its way to Smith 18 yards out. Although the York wing-back managed to get his shot on target, the Durham goalkeeper succeeded in palming it up into the air and he gratefully catched the ball on its descent.

With the Durham striker failing to severely test York's three-man defence, Evans was given licence to bomb forward in support of his teammate's attacks. This greatly unsettled the Durham team, as the penetrating runs of both Smith and Evans on the right wing became difficult for the players to handle.

On 68 minutes, the breakthrough came. A corner from York was swung into the back post, where left wing-back Cooper was waiting to head the ball back into the centre, and defender Rixon popped up like a fresher's penis to head the ball into the back of the net and give York the lead.

Within two minutes York had grabbed their second, although it came in slightly controversial circumstances. With Smith running back from an offside position, a ball was played into the path of the onrushing O'Shea. With Durham caught two-on-one at the back, O'Shea calmly centred it to Gouland, who rolled the ball into the empty net. The Durham players remonstrated with the referee, claiming that the goal should be disallowed, but the referee deemed that Smith had not interfered with play.

With York's two quick-fire goals having knocked the stuffing out of Durham, the whites pushed for a third. On 77 minutes they got it, and what a goal it was. One of his lung-busting runs from defence found Evans receive the ball in the opposition half, and slaloming past three Durham players he struck the ball from 25 yards out. The ball flew straight into the top corner to send fans and teammates to cloud nine, and seal an impressive victory for York.

After the match, captain O'Shea said: "It’s a lot better than the last few weeks, where we’ve come away disappointed, but we definitely deserved it today. We played really well on Saturday and came away with nothing, but today we put in the performance and got what we deserved. So I’m just really happy for everyone, because the hard work’s paid off at last. It’s taken a few games, but I’m chuffed."

Regarding the new formation, O'Shea added: "We took the chance on Saturday to try it, because we were missing a few wingers who weren’t available, and it worked pretty well. It means we get to play to our strengths. We were strong down the middle, and then Alex [Cooper] and Henry [Smith] were really good out wide, so I think we’ll be sticking with it for the future. It’s certainly my preferred formation. So yeah, we won’t change it if it’s not broken!"

With the visit of Northumbria 2nds today, O'Shea must be hoping that the York players don't keep their heads in the clouds for too long after this convincing victory, and that they build on this success to claim back-to-back victories for the first time this season.

York 1st XI (3-5-2): Emmerson, Evans, McWilliams, Rixon, Smith, Cooper, Wilson, Witherwick, Ramsden (Gardner 61), O'Shea (capt.) (Murrills 81), Gouland.

Goals: Rixon 68, Gouland 70, Evans 77

Man of the Match: Shaun Evans

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