5 Things We Learned from York City's 1-1 draw with Alfreton

For the majority of Gary Mills’ second spell at the club, Sean Newton’s name was the first on the team-sheet, even ahead of talismanic target-man Jon Parkin, such was his galvanising presence on the side. His influence and form has waned, though, in recent weeks and it might be time to reassess the skipper’s position on the pitch.

At his best for the Minstermen, Newton was a driving force who, despite arriving as a left back by trade, carried the team up the pitch with his strong forward charges and his present anchoring role in the middle of the pitch is not utilising his status as the best crosser of a ball in the squad either. If Martin Gray is to persevere with his 4-2-3-1 formation, there are also other candidates to shield the defence alongside Simon Heslop.

One solution might be to swap Newton with Adriano Moke who, despite having been shifted to the left wing, appears to be more inclined to retain possession than hurt teams by harnessing his ability to run with the ball. Newton is much more direct in his raids down the flank and he would also offer better protection for David Ferguson down that side of the pitch.

Along with Moke, dependable utility man Dan Parslow could also work in tandem with Heslop in front of the back four if needed.

2 City must quickly find a fear factor to impose on opponents

After Alfreton gained a share of the spoils at Bootham Crescent, they became the 17th club, from 21, to take points against the Minstermen this season with ten games still left to play of the regular season. Having secured a 3-2 victory in Derbyshire back in November, City were hoping to complete their third double of the season after prevailing home and away against neighbours North Ferriby and Bradford Park Avenue during 2017/18.

Nuneaton and Brackley now remain the only other two clubs the North Yorkshire outfit can collect a maximum six points from this term and nobody would have expected that to be the case when City were installed as second favourites to win the title, just behind Salford in the pre-season market. But, rarely, this season have two matches against the same opponents followed the same course – possibly highlighted most starkly during the 4-1 debacle at Curzon Ashton this month, which contrasted starkly with the 2-1 home win at Bootham Crescent.

Conversely, City have not yet been on the receiving end of a double and will have the opportunity to avenge defeats against Boston, Chorley, FC United of Manchester and Harrogate in upcoming fixtures.

3 Louis Almond needs to come to the party

As the season enters its business end, City would truly benefit from a big two months from the technically-gifted Almond, who gave flashes of his game-winning potential when beckoned from the bench for the last 25 minutes of Saturday’s contest. As the Minstermen looked a little short on attacking inspiration with Jon Parkin suspended and the likes of Alex Pattison, Aidan Connolly and Moke struggling to get a foothold in the match, Almond’s ability to receive the ball, keep it and look for a telling end product lifted his side.

Despite only starting 11 games since his summer arrival from Tranmere and being sidelined for three months with a shoulder problem, Almond is still second in the club’s assists table this season, creating seven goals for his team-mates, which places him just one behind skipper Newton. Much of that creative potential was witnessed during the 5-0 August drubbing of Bradford Park Avenue when he, remarkably, teed up all of the visitors’ goals.

As manager Gray pointed out at the weekend, the out-of-contract Almond must now show that quality on a consistent basis if he is to earn a new deal with City or elsewhere.

4 Dan Parslow’s selection claims are becoming harder to ignore

Hamza Bencherif’s failure to deliver commanding displays on a regular basis has been one of the most puzzling and frustrating features of the season. The former Algeria under-21 international could not have been more dominant during the 1-0 home victory over Salford, but has followed that performance with two outings against Curzon Ashton and Alfreton that fell considerably below that standard.

His failure to track Tom Allan for Alfreton’s equalising goal was a difficult oversight to forgive from such an experienced defender. Two uncertain pieces of play by Bencherif’s central-defensive partner Jonny Burn could also have been punished on another day, with errors leading to one-on-one opportunities for Nyal Bell and Cieron Keane that keeper Adam Bartlett needed to be at his sharpest with to avoid further goals.

Bencherif and Burn have now lined up together in the last 14 matches and, while the team could clearly defend better as a collective, 21 goals have been conceded during that time at an average of 1.5 per game, which continues to put the centre-back partnership under close scrutiny, especially with City stalwart Parslow – Cheltenham’s player of the year less than two years ago when they won the National League title – waiting in the wings.

5 Tom Allan looked good enough to feature in City’s side

The Minstermen never wanted to lose promising youngster Allan but, having been offered a deal by Nigel Worthington back in 2014, the York-born defender decided instead to drop out of the Football League to join forces again with former boss Gary Mills and seek regular first-team action at Gateshead. He was only 19 at the time and, after one year in the north-east, dropped down to National League North level with Alfreton the same season that City would be relegated back to the Conference.

Few, including Allan, could have believed he would cross paths with his old team again on the football pitch, as he took a job with the community department at Bootham Crescent, but fate deals some unusual hands and, uniquely, he has found himself playing part-time at the same standard as his employers. His performance, capped by a point-securing, equalising goal, will certainly have opened some eyes at the club, as it suggested he could do a job for his home-town team in sixth-tier football.

Blessed with the kind of height that is an asset in both boxes, Allan’s ability to play at left back also illustrates his comfort with the ball at his feet, which was evidenced by the playing of several accurate passes down the flank. At 23, he still has the potential to improve too.