Dave Penney delighted with four different York City marksmen without big Jon Parkin on the scoresheet

Sean Newton, Raul Correia, Adriano Moke and Jonny Burn were all netted in an extraordinary 5-3 thriller at the New Bucks Head, with former Premier League striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (two) and Connor Johnson replying for the hosts.

A strain saw Parkin withdrawn from the action at half-time, but it is hoped the 36-year-old veteran will recover in time for Saturday's home match against Spennymoor.

Summing up a bizarre encounter, Penney said: "It was nice to see the goals shared around without big Jon getting one and it was great for Raul to get his first and he could have had two if Hamza (Bencherif) had not helped his shot in and been flagged offside.

"But you don't often see a team make three subs at half-time and they just went for it in the second half. They were very attack-minded and that was difficult to deal with at times.

"It was disappointing we didn't deal with it better, because it should have finished 5-1 or 6-2. I think it all got a bit easy and we got sloppy and, then, it's hard to get back to where you were."

On the Parkin situation, Penney admitted: "We didn't really want to take Big Jon off, but the pitch was heavy and he had a bit of a strain, so we did it as a precaution to get some ice on it. We missed him when he went off and, hopefully, he'll be OK for the weekend."

Goalkeeper Adam Bartlett, meanwhile, made a string of good saves to ensure the Minstermen racked up five straight wins and Penney enthused: "He's made some terrific saves recently and shown what a good keeper he is."

Simon Heslop was recalled for his first outing since November and Penney was also impressed with the former captain, declaring: "I thought he was excellent.

"He got two assists from his corners and looked comfortable sat in front of the back four."

Elsewhere, former City favourite Andy McMillan has been appointed Alfreton Town's new assistant manager.