1 Big players (literally and figuratively) win big games 

Just as against Forest Green on the final day of the National League campaign, Macclesfield players passed the ball with greater confidence and purpose than City for large periods under the world-famous arch, but had no answer to Parkin’s power and goal nous. Parkin’s brace might not have proved sufficient to avoid a 2-2 draw with the Gloucestershire play-off winners and consequent relegation, but John Askey’s men could not find solutions for the problems the ex-Championship campaigner continues to pose at 35.

The one-time Hull and Stoke talisman glanced the deftest of headers past former City keeper Scott Flinders to give his team an early lead when there was no question that he was going to use his ample frame to ensure he met Danny Holmes’ inviting left-wing cross ahead of Macc skipper George Pilkington. After Rhys Browne had levelled, Parkin was also the outlet as he held up a long ball forward which, in spite of Macc’s superiority on the ball, heralded the move of the match as first-time passes from Holmes and Sean Newton teed up the Minstermen’s second goal for Oliver.

Macc fought back to equalise again in first-half stoppage time and, after the break, did most of the pressing. But cometh the hour, cometh the man.

Former City defender John McCombe had been hailed off the bench midway through the second period – perhaps to provide a more equal match for the Barnsley-born behemoth’s bulk – but he was knocked off balance in a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge for another long ball up the pitch, leaving Parkin to get away the deflected shot that would have won the trophy had a poaching Aidan Connolly not made sure from half a centimetre!

Typically, Parkin had no complaints about Connolly stealing his thunder and, no doubt, wouldn’t have reacted any differently had he not bagged his 20th goal of the season and his first-ever on the hallowed turf earlier.

A big man in all respects!

York Press: 2 A goal-line clearance is as good as a goal

Parkin’s giant-sized contribution, meanwhile, was matched at the other end of the pitch by 6ft 3in defender Hamza Bencherif. With Macclesfield beginning to turn the screw midway through the second half, Bencherif’s heroic intervention to deny his former Halifax team-mate Kingsley James proved a pivotal moment.

James could not have hit his six-yard volley any sweeter, but Bencherif bravely diverted the ball away from goal using his head. His desire not to concede was reminiscent of Lanre Oyebanjo’s efforts at the very same end five years earlier, which would also prove instrumental in the 2012 play-off final victory over Luton.

Oyebanjo was sadly on crutches for this contest, but the former Algerian under-20 international showed the same grit throughout, as he concluded consecutive campaigns with a bitter-sweet relegation and FA Trophy double.

York Press: 3 Danny Holmes illustrated his worth on the biggest stage

City chief Gary Mills decided to haul off a rusty Yan Klukowski and scrap his midfield experiment at the break, but the flaw in his first-half tactics had little to do with the versatile and willing Holmes’ employment at left-wing back. He adapted well to the foreign role, having spent the previous six months largely playing second fiddle to a number of different rivals for midfield and wide-right slots.

Providing the cross for Parkin’s goal, Holmes’ defence-splitting, first-time pass was also perfectly measured to send Sean Newton sprinting through the left channel before Vadaine Oliver was picked out for City’s second.

York Press: 4 Wembley did give everybody present a welcome boost 

Given the pain of back-to-back relegations and the unthinkable prospect of sixth-tier football, the views of those City fans who might have decided to stay away at the weekend can be understood and respected. After all, lifting non-League football’s premier trophy would not have been regarded as a reason for acclaim in past eras when the club were reaching FA Cup semi-finals, plying their trade in the old second division, becoming the first ever to reach 100 points in a season and beating the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United.

However, a regrettable managerial appointment, on top of the actions of past regimes and the unforgivably-long community stadium saga, have all contributed to the club’s current status. Still, though, more than 7,000 fans, many admittedly for just the one day, made the 400-mile round trip to cheer on the Minstermen for a Sunday tea-time kick off and Wembley remains a magical place to win a game of football whatever the occasion – just ask the similar legions of South Shields supporters, who saw their part-time team triumph 4-0 over Cleethorpes to lift the FA Vase, prior to the main event.

The final against Macclesfield wasn’t the wake many had feared, given the dreadful drop to National League North. A three-week, intervening period for mourning probably helped in that respect, but football fans regularly prefer to adopt an optimistic disposition, even when all pre-season evidence doesn’t support such rose-tinted outlooks.

The Minstermen can, though, dare to dream of better times following the retention of manager Gary Mills and the will expressed by many of his squad, who have displayed top-ten form since the turn of the year, to stick by the club. The Trophy victory has, undoubtedly, played its part in that desperate search for much-needed hope and nor was there any evidence at any point that the run to the final distracted from the more important business of preserving National League status.

The often-consequent, fixture pile-up was avoided largely due to a mild winter and no player could be visibly accused of saving themselves for the revered venue during that fraught afternoon against Forest Green. Wembley was, as Mills had anticipated, as good a place as possible to begin the healing process and usher in the next chapter of City’s proud history.

York Press: 5 Non-League Finals Day was a success

The supporters of seaside towns South Shields and Cleethorpes, as well as those from City and Macclesfield, seemed to enjoy as many drinks as the fans who had attended the previous day’s League One play-off final, but there was an atmosphere of alcohol-fuelled merriment, rather than the intoxicated threat of violence that saw followers of Millwall spill on to the hallowed turf and taunt their Bradford counterparts. People of all ages from the four clubs were there to embrace the day, mingle freely and share their love of football in a safe environment.

Such occasions are clearly easier to enjoy than the one-off promotion deciders, where the stakes and emotions are correspondingly high, but City supporters proved fine ambassadors for York and their club, as they have been throughout two seasons that would have fully tested the patience of any of their counterparts up and down the country.