YORK City manager Terry Dolan has given the Bootham Crescent faithful a rallying call to help City's bid to climb the Division Three table.

A stoppage time strike by substitute Colin Alcide gave the Minstermen their first victory of the season, and Dolan immediately urged supporters to believe it will be the first of many.

"I hope the supporters can show a bit more belief than they are at the moment," he said, stressing that he was in no way criticising them.

"We had two defeats in the first two (league) games and some think it's a disaster but we know it's not.

"We've been positive all the way through pre-season and those defeats were a dent to optimism.

"But we need the supporters to believe in the players the way that I do and the way that the players are starting to themselves. We need the fans to be behind the players."

Only 1,981 turned up for what could have been a money-spinning Bank Holiday clash, and those fans that failed to show missed a free-flowing display by the Minstermen, crowned by the deserved last-gasp winner.

The attendance was the lowest for a league match since Maidstone United attracted a Bootham Crescent gate of just 1,638 on April 20, 1992.

"Perhaps a thousand people who might have turned up yesterday didn't do so because of our first couple of results here," said Dolan, reflecting on the 5-1 Worthington Cup defeat by Stoke City and the 2-0 League loss to Cheltenham Town, as well as the heavy opening-day defeat at Chesterfield.

"I'm not having a go at the fans at all. We've had a hiccup, but hopefully we're over that and we want everybody to get behind us. Four points in four days has got us off and running."

The win lifted City seven places to 16th in the table, and made up some way for the disappointment suffered on Friday night when a last-gasp equaliser denied them a 1-0 victory at Carlisle - and two points which today would have seen the Minstermen one place off a play-off spot.

"We know how it feels to be on the receiving end of a last-minute goal. And I can tell you it's a far better feeling now than on Friday," said a beaming Dolan.

"It was a victory for perseverance and patience because we stuck at it.

"I thought we created quite a bit, although in the first half we might have tried too many passes instead of getting the ball into the danger area quicker.

"But we looked to have a bit more of a cutting edge, and it was just disappointing that we didn't have a goal to show for it."

He added: "Alan Fettis apart, I rate their goalkeeper (Lee Harrison) as one of the best in the division and he's made two great saves from David McNiven.

"But it wasn't a case of us not creating anything and we looked relatively solid at the back."

Reflecting on the goal, which was set up and scored by the substitutes, he added: "We had Barry Conlon and Colin Alcide on the bench to change things.

"It was a good move and was the right time to score.

"I said to the players afterwards that they all contributed to the victory."