YORK City staged a brilliant comeback to power to a thrilling 5-3 victory over Southport.

The Bootham Crescent faithful had earlier been sent nuts by two spectacular efforts by Louis Almond and an equally impressive Rory McKeown strike that cancelled out Sean Newton’s fourth-minute opener for the Minstermen.

But Vadaine Oliver pulled a goal back just before the interval, providing the platform for Jon Parkin to bag a brace either side of an Amari Morgan-Smith effort during a pulsating second half.

Earlier, the Minstermen had survived a second-minute scare when Parkin cleared off the line from Robbie Cundy’s close-range effort following a scramble caused by McKeown’s corner.

But Gary Mills’ team forged ahead from the next attack when Aidan Connolly played a short pass to Newton and, after nimble skills took him past two away defenders, the City wing-back’s 15-yard, right-footed shot deflected past Craig King.

At the other end, Shaun Rooney’s block took the sting out of an Almond chance, before Parkin blasted a low 30-yard shot that King did well to push around his right-hand post.

From Asa Hall’s resulting corner, Hamza Bencherif failed to trouble King after the ball had fallen to his feet eight yards from goal.

But two spectacular goals in as many minutes turned the game on its head.

First, Rooney allowed Almond to get to the ball before him close to the left-flank corner flag.

Almond went on to leave the former Queen’s Park defender for dead before curling into Kyle Letheren’s top-left corner on 19 minutes.

Next, McKeown tried his luck from 30 yards and the ball flew into Letheren’s top-right corner.

Shell-shocked City saw Connolly, Oliver and Hall miss the target in response before Almond scored his second of the night with another thunderbolt in the 42nd minute.

As the ball bounced up invitingly, the on-loan Tranmere attacker spun and sent a dipping 25-yard effort over Letheren.

But, in the second minute of stoppage time at the end of a frantic first half, the hosts then reduced the deficit with Oliver heading in from a couple of yards after Parkin had lifted the ball in from the right.

With Connolly making way for Adriano Moke at the break, the Minstermen restarted the game in purposeful fashion.

On 53 minutes, Morgan-Smith won the ball off Ross White and picked out Oliver with a low cross from the left but, after the City striker took a touch, he blasted wide of an inviting goal.

A Dan Parslow attempt, meanwhile, was pushed over by King, who went on to punch a terrific 30-yard Newton volley into the air and the ball then finished in the back of his net after he dropped it on Parkin’s head, but the 35-year-old veteran was penalised for a foul.

The home side were level, though, on 64 minutes when Morgan-Smith sent in a cross from the left that Parkin expertly controlled on his chest before thumping an eight-yard half volley into the roof of the net.

After Newton had hit the roof of a roaring David Longhurst Stand, Morgan-Smith made it 4-3 on 72 minutes.

Having been sent clear through the right channel by Parkin, the former Luton striker kept his cool to slip the ball past advancing on-loan Hatter King from eight yards.

Oliver went on to rattle the inside of King’s right-hand post from 20 yards, before a rampant City added a fifth on 78 minutes.

Long-throw specialist Sam Muggleton, making his debut from the bench, hurled the ball on to Parkin’s head from a prodigious distance and the big man found the net from eight yards.

Southport managed their first attempt of the half in the 85th minute when Andrai Jones headed off target.

After Parkin’s ambitious volley flew high and wide, Almond also shot wide and Declan Weeks called sub keeper Luke Simpson, on for the injured Letheren, into two stoppage-time saves.

But it was too little, too late for the visitors.