THE £10,000 target to save York City's reserve team has been smashed just 20 days after manager Billy McEwan made his appeal in the Evening Press.

April 21 had been set as the deadline to reverse the club's original decision to give notice to the Pontin's League because of financial considerations and that will now happen thanks mainly to the efforts of Minstermen supporters.

A bucket collection held at Saturday's home match with Gravesend and Northfleet raised an excellent £1,437.

That money, together with pledges of £1,000 from FR Pulleyn Garage, £500 from Neil Sanderson, of the City Football Development Centre, and £250 from the York Mysterymen, has helped break the magical five-figure number.

Another anonymous pledge of £3,000 has been made and FR Pulleyn has also supplied the club with the use of a Skoda car for a year.

In addition, orders are still being received for the Happy Wanderers' commemorative DVD, featuring footage of the famous 1955 FA Cup run and a recent interview with former chairman Hugh Kitchin as well as messages from former players Tommy Forgan and Arthur Bottom.

All proceeds from the DVD are going towards the appeal and are already set to total £1,500.

Anybody who would like a copy but has not yet ordered one must do so by Friday by calling the club on 0870 7771922 and leaving their name and address.

City's finance director Terry Doyle today praised the efforts of the club's supporters, saying: "We are delighted how quickly the money has been raised. It is very heartening that our supporters have all rallied around to help us make a very difficult decision on whether or not to continue having a reserve team.

"To have the ability to do so now is absolutely fantastic and I would like to say thank you on behalf of the board to everybody who has contributed and to the Evening Press for publicising the appeal."

Updated: 09:43 Tuesday, April 05, 2005