Tuesday 22nd September 2009 - York 2-2 U's: One Good Reason
The fine old city of York has much to recommend it to visitors: the splendid Gothic Minster, museums, churches, the Viking Centre, the City Wall, The Shambles, even a Dungeon. But now it has an exciting new attraction: the Amazing Leaning Floodlight of Kit-Kat Crescent!
It seems the huge pylon in the corner of the away end by the tea bar was recently taken down for maintenance, and when they tried to put it back again, there was a massive fluid leak which has meant that they can only right it back some 20 degrees short of vertical, and have to keep it up by way of a large jack affixed to its front. That corner of the away end was accordingly cordoned off in case any mischievous sort felt like adjusting the jack in some way and ended up sending the pylon crashing down onto the pitch. Otherwise, we were assured, it was "totally safe."
It made for a bizarre sight, to be sure, leaning down towards the pitch like an inquisitive, metallic robot dinosaur, but it only added to the charm of this quaint old venue which never seems to change, an old-fashioned city centre football ground with a crumbling away terrace for the visitors, a picturesque stand named after a deceased player and seats which were once bright red but which now have faded to a sort of off-pink.
The Gents' lavs have remained untouched by human hand (although not other parts) since the Cathedral was built, by the look of them, a roofless, timeless, charmless wall of troughs, but other homely touches were welcome, like the hoarding which read 'Simply Sausages' or the programme ad for the local John Smith's brewery at Tadcaster with its helpful Customer Helpline: "Hello? John Smith's? Help! We've run out of booze! Send beer immediately, this is an emergency!"
York's mascot was a friendly-looking lion, presumably after the chocolate bar to keep with the cocoa- based confectionery theme of the ground. Well, you try devising a costume for a Walnut Whip, Black Magic or a Dairy Box. On second thoughts, don't...
York enjoyed 75 years in the Football League, mostly undistinguished and all but two seasons in the bottom two divisions, until their relegation the year before United went down, and after the last two fairly dismal campaigns they finally seem to have reawakened with just two defeats and an impressive unbeaten home record with four consecutive wins and only one goal conceded, having splashed out the money earned on their way to FA Trophy runners-up last term on a raft of new signings.
Their line-up included two ex-U's in James Meredith and Michael Gash, on whom they surprisingly laid out £55,000 from Ebbsfleet. The toughest visitors to the Kit-Kat so far had been Crawley and Kettering, so one suspected they were in for their toughest test yet from a U's side still unbeaten on its travels and unchanged for the eighth consecutive game.
The impressive ranks of the amber army had to strain their ears to hear the team announcements as for some reason there was no working PA system in the away end, the sound instead drifting across from the main stand. The teams were given eye-catching greetings by both sets of fans when they emerged, some lads in the home end waving large flags which had been placed at the front of the terrace for just that reason, while the amber hordes responded with a red smoke bomb which drifted impressively across the pitch as the players took their positions.
The flags were quickly put down and forgotten as the contest commenced at pace, the pitch having been heavily and unnecessarily watered by sprinklers beforehand, and York started confidently as one would expect from their current form, first shot from Neil Barrett blocked by Andy Parkinson at the expense of a corner which was comfortably defended by United.
The teams operated similar systems, 4-4-2s which attempted to find runners with short balls over the top, Parkinson almost getting to one from Jai Reason early on, but there were no further attempts on goal until 13 when Gash slashed hopelessly wide. By now, though, United had soaked up the hosts' initial pressure and were starting to get on top in terms of possession with a good, calm passing game which lacked only in penetration at the sharp end.
Reason fizzed a shot wide on the quarter hour, and after more probing Danny Crow cut inside on 21 and sent an underpowered effort into keeper Michael Ingham's welcoming gloves at the near post. Andy Ferrell responded with a hopeful blaster wide from distance two minutes later, but the match became bogged down in a midfield battle and the keepers were such spectators for the next ten minutes that it was a wonder York did not charge them admission. Both teams were playing neat stuff, with United enjoying a slight territorial advantage, but every move broke down when it came to the final third when the waves of insufficient invention broke on the solid sea defences of two doughty back fours. Groyne strains all round.
On 33, however, the United defence was breached for the first time in five games with the untidiest of goals. Adam Smith sent a looping cross into a crowded box from the right, Gash won it at the far post, Wayne Hatswell and Parkinson both failed to clear their lines with scuffed attempts at clearances, it fell to Ferrell on the edge of the box, he fired goalward, it bounced off Brian Saah in the middle of the six-yard box, and it fell unluckily but perfectly to the unmarked Gash to poke home past Danny Potter from close range. Messy: 1-0.
Tails up, Brodie almost sprinted through a minute later but was foiled by a combination of Hatswell and Saah. The goal galvanised some much-needed energy into the match and Robbie Willmott, who had for a change started on the right but had been quiet so far, had a shot blocked by Levi Mackin. Paul Carden then slid a through ball to Chris Holroyd on 39, but he delayed a clear shooting chance by a fatal split second and his eventual effort was blocked away for a corner.
Honours were fairly even for the rest of the half, Gash drawing a fairly comfortable save from Potter, Willmott seeing two corners repelled, and when Carden fouled Brodie the York striker drove his free-kick over the wall but was denied by Potter's diving save.
Had the half-time score been goalless, United would have been able to reflect on a mostly satisfactory first 45 in which they had drawn an in-form hosts' sting and enjoyed a slight majority of possession without really hurting them so far. But at one down, more cutting edge and invention was now required in the final third if anything was to be salvaged from the evening.
The pitch received another thorough watering during the interval, leading to suspicions that York were going to re-emerge sporting snorkels and waterwings, but the drenching thankfully stopped just before the pitch became a boating lake, the unfortunate United subs having to warm up gingerly at a safe distance from the sprinkler.
The visitors made a promising start to part two when a minute in Crow latched onto Gleeson's ball over the top with a diagonal run, but his angled shot carried insufficient power to trouble Ingham. By all accounts the keeper was carrying an injury and he seemed a little troubled by his knee, but it did not appear to affect his overall performance.
United continued to take the game to the Minstermen, whose approach appeared to be rather more safety-first than in the opening half as if they were just happy to sit on their precarious lead. They were nevertheless still dangerous on the break, and on 53 Gash set up Brodie who slipped as he shot wide of the near post while United claimed a foul during the build-up.
Parkinson, not enjoying the best of games, was dispossessed by Farrell on 55 and he set up Brodie again, but this time his shot was slowed down by a deflection from the blocking Saah to leave a simple catch for Potter. Carden had a long-ranger clutched by Ingham on 63, then two minutes later Holroyd was brought down by Mackin to present Willmott with a goalscoring opportunity from a free-kick 25 yards out, but he could only drive it into the wall.
The U's were now so on top that they were playing like the home team and York the visitors desperately hanging on, but for all their possession, they were still not working the keeper enough or creating sufficient shooting opportunities. The real hosts broke away to gain a corner on 68 and Barrett's flag-kick was met by towering centre-back Djoumin Sangare, but he thundered a header narrowly wide from the centre of goal.
Martin Ling finally decided change was needed on 69, replacing the ineffective Parkinson with Courtney Pitt, and five minutes later he boldly substituted both strikers, introducing Lee Phillips and Mark Beesley. Phillips' physical presence was something different to what United had offered thus far, and on 77 he powered a header just wide from Anthony Tonkin's cross, claiming a corner, as did the linesman, who remained pointing his flag at the corner 'D' while the ref ignored him, eventually just giving up and running back up the line. That's it, mate, stick to your guns...
The substitutions, however, began to work a couple of minutes later. Another Tonkin cross found Beesley, he slipped a clever little ball across to Reason on the edge of the box, and with opponents closing in, he coolly looked up and rolled his shot past Ingham and inside the far post. 1-1!
Jai had an unsuccessful trial period at York before joining the U's last year, which might explain his rather unnecessary 'larging it' in front of the home fans, although Adebayor Junior was hardly likely to provoke a riot from a crowd as harmless as York's. The hosts made a positive change, introducing frontman Michael Rankine for Ferrell.
United, however, now had the bit between their teeth, with Phillips and Beesley looking as thoroughly up for it as two strikers playing for their places can do, and on 83 they took the lead with a marvellous team goal worthy of Arsenal at their best. Saah picked up possession on halfway, surged into a gap down the right channel, then arrowed a diagonal ball towards Beesley; Bees dummied then hared for goal, the ball ran behind him for Phillips, and his perfect through ball cut the defence to pieces as Beesley ran onto it and placed an inch-perfect finish calmly past Ingham from eighteen yards. Exquisite: 2-1.
All of a sudden a match which had become a struggle now looked like an away banker. Andy McWilliams replaced Mackin for the now desperate hosts, who had been thoroughly outplayed in the second half, and the first yellow cards of the evening ensued when Willmott and Brodie, who had been spoiling for an argument all night, clashed bad-temperedly.
York finally began to show some urgency for the first time since the half-time whistle, but United looked like hanging on for a well-merited win until a minute from time. Smith found space on the right to line up a precision cross and Gash rose above Gleeson to power an unstoppable header over Potter and into the net. 2-2.
To his credit, Gash did not go for any larging (insert joke about burger-eating here) but ran to his own supporters to celebrate. York went negative again, bringing on a defender, David McGurk, for Smith, and despite United having the better of the four minutes' added time, they could not find a way through, and an honourable draw was the result.
There is no doubt that everyone at United would have taken a draw at the start, but the nature of their dominant second-half performance and the timing of the goals made it seem more like two points dropped. But there were more positives to be taken from the game than negatives, not least the emergence of genuine competition for attacking places in the side and the continuation of an eight-match unbeaten run. And Luton on Saturday will hold no fears for this team, especially after the Hatters' 3-0 defeat to that dismal Wrexham side last night. We won't need a leaning floodlight pylon to attract a big crowd this weekend...
Statto Corner
United's record at York has improved immensely since the clubs' relegation to the Conference. They first met at Bootham Crescent on 1st March 1971, and the hosts' 3-0 victory set the tone for meetings at that venue. In a total of nine Football League visits, United lost eight times and won the other, a rare 2-1 triumph in May 1989 with goals from the classic front pairing of John Taylor and Dion Dublin.
The sequence continued when the clubs first met in non-League, York winning 1-0 in September 2005. Since then, however, the U's have remained unbeaten at the Crescent with two wins and two draws.
United's top scorers over the years against the Minstermen have been John Taylor and Lee Boylan with three apiece. Steve Fallon has scored twice in this fixture, but unfortunately they were both own goals in the same match in a 3-2 defeat in September 1984. Clayton Donaldson is top marksman for York with five goals in four games, including a hat-trick in that nightmarish 5-0 defeat at the Abbey back in March 2007.
Michael Gash started only seven league games in his time at United, coming off the bench a further nine times, and scored twice, in home games against Gravesend and Burton. He has now played against the U's six times and scored four goals. He failed to notch in his two games for Ebbsfleet last season, but in three pre-season friendlies in 2004, 2007 and 2008 he scored in the latter two matches for Cambridge City. Gash has, however, never finished on the winning side against the U's, managing only four draws and two defeats.
James Meredith played only twice for United on loan from Derby in October 2006, enduring a torrid time against Yemi Odubade in a 3-0 Abbey defeat to Oxford, then taking part in a 2-0 FA Cup defeat at Northwich in which Michael Gash also played. Courtney Pitt is the only United player from that match still at the club. Meredith faced the U's once last season while on loan at Telford from Shrewsbury and finished on the winning side in their 4-3 Setanta Shield victory.
United's unbeaten record now stands at eight matches, but they still have some way to go to equal their twelve-match run last season in January to April, which was bookended by defeats at Wrexham and Stevenage.
Player Ratings
Potter 7. Sound game, not a lot he could do about either goal.
Gleeson 7. Solid and concentrated mainly on defensive duties, not getting forward as much as he does at the Abbey.
Tonkin 8. Effective both at the back and bombing forward on those exciting wing runs of his.
Saah 8. Reliable as ever and a fantastic run to help set up the second goal.
Hatswell 8. Tower of strength.
Parkinson 5. Dispossessed and muscled off the ball far too easily. The weak link, I'm afraid.
Carden 8. Industrious skipper led by example as usual.
Reason 7. Playing his way back to form and an excellent goal.
Willmott 6. Still does not look his usual self despite playing much of the game on his favoured right wing.
Crow 7. Hard-working with good link-up play we have come to expect. With growing competition for places, however, he really needs to start finding the net on a regular basis.
Holroyd 7. Asked York all sorts of questions with his pace and movement, but effectiveness limited because he and Crow were playing too far apart most of the time.
Pitt 6. Not bad, although he really must stop trundling those feeble corners that don't even reach the near post.
Phillips 7. Made an instant impact with power and pace. Looks hungry.
Beesley 7. Fantastic goal in combination with Phillips which shows he can deliver when he's in the mood.
Match Summary
United enjoyed the majority of possession against high-flying York but were all build-up and no end product until the strikers were replaced late on. After that they really should have wrapped up a comfortable three points, only to be denied at the death by the inevitable old boy's goal.
Man of the Match
Wayne Hatswell. Playing alongside the elegant Saah has given the old man of the team a new lease of life.
Ref Watch
Simpson 7. Decent ref: let play flow fairly well, was sparing with the cards and relatively unobtrusive. 'Jez' is no name for a referee, though...
Out of the Mouths of Babes
"I had a good time at the match, but unluckily there were not any streakers." (Toj Njeznajoo)
Soundtrack of the Day
Richard Hawley 'Soldier On'
Parky's Pick of the Pops
Andy Parkinson lends an ear to the Kit-Kat Crescent sounds. "All right, lads and lasses? Now I'm still a young man, even though me mam says I look more like me dad than me dad does! But when I hear the charts these days I sometimes feel really ancient, like, 'cos all that R&B stuff just sounds the same, doesn't it? Whiny vocals that sound like robots, cheesy keyboards, a token rap here and there... it does me head in, honest!
"So there wasn't much to enjoy at York after all the Akons and Taio Cruzes and Pussycat Dolls stuff. La Roux's OK, I guess, got a bit of personality to her, like, but as for the rest, well, if this is the future of music, hand me my rocking chair and slippers now, eh! PPP verdict: 1/10."
Andrew Bennett
Andrew's previous match reports
More Match Photos
The views expressed on this page are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cambridge United Football Club or the webmaster.
