MANAGER Terry Dolan saluted match winner Lee Bullock and his wonder strike as York City sealed their first win in seven attempts with a stirring 3-2 victory over Leyton Orient.

It looked set to be another afternoon of frustration for City as they trailed 2-1 with just ten minutes to go before a bullet header from Jon Parkin levelled the scores and Bullock sealed the win with a remarkable goal.

Just two minutes of normal time remained when the City midfielder spotted Glenn Morris off his line and from a tight angle some 25 yards from goal lifted the ball over the stranded Orient 'keeper.

A regular scorer last season, it was only the midfielder's second strike of this campaign and City manager Dolan admitted he was delighted to have Bullock back among the goals.

"It was a goal that deserved to win the game, that is for sure," enthused the City chief.

"Lee gets through a lot of hard work which people do not always notice.

"But he has got some quality and it is nice for him to get on the goal-sheet.

"He is playing a role at the moment where he doesn't get forward as often as he would like.

"For a spell when we were really on top we had too many crosses that hit the first man again but Lee has looked up and picked his spot.

"Their goalkeeper had no chance."

The midfielder was adamant his wonder-goal was not a miscued cross.

"I had a look up and saw no-one was in the middle. All I could do was aim for the back post over the 'keeper's head.

"I side-footed it and fortunately it has floated right into the top corner," explained Bullock.

"People have been telling me to shoot more, so maybe I should listen.

"It was probably the best goal I've scored and it was certainly an important one.

"I haven't scored for a while and it was getting on my mind. Hopefully, now I can push on and score a few more."

The 21-year-old midfielder admitted the importance of the win, which lifted City back up to 12th place, could not be underestimated.

"We have had a hard month with a lot of long away trips against some of the better teams in this division.

"We didn't win many but we didn't disgrace ourselves and we took confidence from that and we knew we had to get back on track.

"We have got that hard month out of the way and the important thing is we can push on up the league after this."

Dolan was elated with the contribution of winger Jon McCarthy, who returned to a hero's welcome after a seven-year absence.

"I think he found out the Third Division is a little bit different to the football he has been playing recently.

"But I'm delighted with the way he stuck at it.

"He took one or two batterings out there but from a fitness point of view I'm delighted that he has come through."

McCarthy was full of praise for his new team-mates and Bullock's winning strike.

"It was an unbelievable goal. As soon as he hit it Chris Brass was behind me and said it was in," he said.

"I'm just so pleased we got the result. I was delighted with the attitude, especially when we got the second goal.

"There was ten minutes left and everyone was looking to go and win the game."

Updated: 12:39 Monday, November 11, 2002