AT the end of a week that saw their manager convicted of fare-dodging, York City players paid the full price for another barren afternoon in front of goal.

Visitors Aldershot managed just two shots on target, themselves, on their way to a 1-0 victory as Jackie McNamara’s strugglers went a fifth straight game without scoring.

The result led to renewed calls for the City chief’s dismissal, as well as unprintable, self-mocking chants from sections of the David Longhurst Stand that outlined their forthright views on the fare that was being served up for them.

They were sad scenes from an ever-diminishing faithful of home supporters, who have lost pride in their football club and faith in the man defiantly holding on to its managerial reins.

McNamara had given recalls to Scott Fenwick, Kaine Felix and, perhaps most surprisingly - given his absence due to injury all season – Danny Galbraith to pep up the home side’s attack.

The pacy Felix threatened sporadically with right-wing raids, but struggled to provide a reliable end product, Galbraith flitted in and out of proceedings, while Fenwick failed to make his presence felt in the final third, having been preferred to the jaded Richard Brodie as the lone striker in City’s 4-2-3-1 formation.

Aidan Connolly – the team’s attacking inspiration during those devastating, but distant, defeats of Woking and Solihull – was also well policed before being stretchered off on the stroke of half-time following a hefty, but fair, collision with uncompromising Shots centre-back Will Evans.

The visitors had earlier got off to a bright start and might have netted twice before eventually opening the scoring on 29 minutes.

First, home keeper Kyle Letheren reacted smartly to parry away Jake Gallagher’s 15-yard shot after Iffy Allen had left City right-back Shaun Rooney for dead.

Then, Shamir Fenelon somehow contrived to clear the Longhurst four yards from goal after he met another low cross from the left – this time delivered by Bernard Mensah.

The latter, though, was not to be denied on 29 minutes when he sprung a disjointed offside trap to race clear through the left channel after Nick Arnold and Matt McClure had combined down that flank.

He went on to firmly blast past an advancing and exposed Letheren from 15 yards.

The Minstermen had just been denied a clear run at goal, themselves, when Galbraith charged forward, only for Connolly, who didn’t touch the ball, to be flagged offside.

After the goal, Felix and Rooney both had cross-shots turned away at his near post by Shots keeper Jake Cole, while Jack Higgins could not steer a Connolly corner on target.

In the second half, Adams sidefooted wide from the edge of the box after exchanging passes with Allen, but Gary Waddock’s men proceeded to retreat deeper for the rest of the game, backing themselves to contend with the Minstermen’s forward threat.

It was a tactic that, ultimately, paid off, but not without a few scares along the way.

After Galbraith lifted an ambitious 30-yard effort over, Fenwick had the ball in the net, but was clearly offside after Matty Dixon’s strike had been pushed away by Cole.

The Hampshire outfit’s keeper also dived low to his right to keep out curling Galbraith and Brodie attempts from outside the box, before skipper Simon Heslop shot inches wide from 12 yards.

Amid chants of “Jackie Out,” the hosts’ most profligate moment came on 89 minutes, however, when Daniel Nti raced clear down the right wing but, in a two-on-one situation, failed to find Brodie with the simplest of square balls for a near-certain goal and hit Evans instead.

With it went the last chances of an equaliser and anything less than a win, on Tuesday night, against a Guiseley team, still to taste victory this term, will leave the long-suffering City supporters contemplating whether the play-off push they were promised could materialise into another relegation dogfight.

City

Kyle Letheren: 6 – given little to do but, when required, showed calm competence

Shaun Rooney: 5 – run ragged early on by Allen, resulting in booking that left him on a tightrope

Jack Higgins: 5 – finding McNamara’s insistence to play out from the back troublesome

Matt Fry: 6 – reasonably solid at left back after switching following Whittle’s injury

Alex Whittle: 6 – battled way prior to eye problem that saw him fail to return for second half

STAR MAN Clovis Kamdjo: 7 – made timely interceptions and comfortable with switch to centre of defence

Simon Heslop: 5 – passing went astray at times and got bogged down in middle of park at times

Kaine Felix: 6 – threatened with his pace, but end product didn’t hurt opposition

Aidan Connolly: 5 – could not get into game prior to injury on stroke of half-time

Danny Galbraith: 6 – tried not to be too over-elaborate and looked to get shots on goal away

Scott Fenwick: 5 – barely troubled or pressurised the Shots’ well-drilled back line

Substitutes: Daniel Nti 5 – wasteful (for Connolly, 45), Matty Dixon 5 – peripheral (for Whittle, 46), Brodie 6 – eager (for Felix, 65).

Subs not used: Luke Simpson, Fraser Murdoch.

Aldershot

Jake Cole, Cheye Alexander, Will Evans, Callum Reynolds, Nick Arnold, Liam Bellamy, Jake Gallagher (Dion Conroy, 59), Shamir Fenelon (Scott Rendell, 62), Bernard Mensah (Josh Wakefield, 6), Iffy Allen, Matt McClure.

Subs not used: Charlie Walker, Mark Smith.

Aldershot star man: Evans – immovable presence in visitors’ defence

Referee: Martin Coy rating: 7/10 – decisive and fair with cards

Booked: Rooney 20, Evans 27, Arnold 70, McClure 81, Fry 88, Brodie 90.

Attendance: 2,188 (249 from Aldershot)

Shots on target: City 5, Aldershot 2

Shots off target: City 4, Aldershot 3

Corners: City 7, Aldershot 8

Fouls conceded: City 15, Aldershot 10

Offside: City 6, Aldershot 3