YORK City boss Billy McEwan called Ben Jackson's open goal miss the "defining moment" of last night's 2-0 defeat at high-flying Halifax Town but refused to criticise the on-loan Doncaster Rovers striker.

Jackson failed to net from the edge of the area having been given a clear shot on goal after a mistake by Halifax keeper James Salisbury.

The 19-year-old forward's effort lacked both the power and direction to level the scores and the Shaymen went on to secure victory with a late Alex Meechan header after Paul Groves' earlier own goal.

Jackson was preferred to Paul D Robinson on the right of midfield and made his full debut for the Minstermen.

Despite the miss, McEwan was impressed by his work-rate and said: "At 1-0 the next goal was always going to be important and we had a situation to equalise but did not take it. The defining moment was the young boy going through to equalise but he's only a kid and we had other good situations where we could have scored.

"Paul Robinson had been doing quite well for us but had tailed off in the last couple of games. I felt we needed Ben Jackson's energy and he gave us that. We just need to teach him a few things but he's a willing learner which is the main thing."

McEwan was also disappointed to concede a third goal from a corner in two matches when Groves headed Craig Midgley's 56th-minute flag kick in off his own crossbar.

The City manager will continue to work on defending set-pieces ahead of Saturday's trip to Tamworth and said: "You can't always legislate for own goals but it's a situation where we have conceded another goal from a corner which we did twice against Exeter. We are working on it and that's all we can do.

"I am hoping we can be first to the ball, get our bodies across and be stronger."

McEwan felt Halifax's second goal could have been avoided as well with Dean Howell's cross being deflected off Graeme Law's boot before Meechan headed past Chris Porter.

The City boss said: "Howells is a good player and Graeme Law did well against him for most of the game but he got the cross in for the second goal and we are a bit disappointed with that but he's another youngster and, as long as he learns from the mistake, he can only get better and will be okay."

Leading scorer Andy Bishop completed 90 minutes at The Shay despite being doubtful prior to the game because of knee tendonitis.

Club captain Steve Davis also tasted his first Conference action for more than six months after a hip operation with an 80th-minute substitute appearance.

Now McEwan is hoping both players can become fully match fit, saying: "Andy's had a difficult time with injuries and not training as much as we would have liked. He needs to be a bit better but, to be fair, he put his neck on the line against Halifax and did his best which is all you can ask.

"Steve Davis has been out a long time and we gave him a run late in the game to get his legs going a bit and to get more bodies further forward to try and get something out of the match."

Updated: 10:08 Tuesday, March 15, 2005