Match report: Tamworth 1, York City 3

The enthusiastic coach, placed in caretaker control for at least two matches, began his bid to land the role on a permanent basis with a fine 3-1 triumph at Tamworth.

Goals from Michael Rankine, Alex Lawless and impressive debutant Jamal Fyfield ensured City won on the road for the first time this season.

Victory also helped lift some of the pessimism engulfing the club following Martin Foyle’s surprise resignation.

Following the 5-0 midweek mauling at Mansfield, another defeat at the Lamb Stadium would have left City fans fearing the club’s season was going downhill faster than a skier at the nearby Snowdome.

Instead, maximum points meant the Minstermen stayed within striking distance of the Blue Square Bet Premier’s early front runners.

Picking his team, Porter reverted to the tactics that came so close to reclaiming the club’s Football League status last season. He set his stall out with two banks of four, moving Lawless back on to the right wing and starting with James Meredith in a midfield role on the opposite flank.

That meant the in-form Peter Till was surprisingly sacrificed as Porter dispensed with the services of out-and-out wingers, although Fyfield did provide more of a touchline-hugging outlet when he swapped positions with Meredith.

After a nervous start, Danny Racchi also enjoyed the kind of performance that suggested he could fill the anchorman void created by Levi Mackin’s injury.

In defence, meanwhile, City looked a lot less fragile than they had five days earlier at Field Mill.

Daniel Parslow, who switched to right-back, contained the threat of the dangerous Danny Thomas on the wing while Greg Young’s strength in the centre of defence proved the perfect antidote to home striker Kyle Perry’s brawn until he was elbowed out of the game by the former Mansfield forward on 69 minutes. By then, City led 2-0 and were just four minutes away from making the points safe with a third goal.

Unusually, considering the margin of City’s victory, Tamworth had more than double the amount of goal attempts their opponents managed to muster.

But it is a measure of the visitors’ defensive resilience that Tamworth were largely limited to hopeful long-range strikes and the aerial efforts of Michael Gash and Young, in particular, saw the Minstermen rarely perturbed by dead-ball deliveries into the box.

At the other end of the pitch, Gash’s guile and Rankine’s muscle troubled Tamworth’s back line.

Rankine called home ’keeper Ross Atkins into action with an angled edge-of-the-box effort before being hacked down in the box by Richard Tait to earn his side a penalty. A teasing through ball by Lawless led Michael Wylde to slip in his attempt to clear the danger.

Rankine went on to beat Tait in a chase for the ball and the Tamworth right-back clumsily slid into the City striker from behind.

Preserving his 100 per cent record for the Minstermen from the spot, Rankine’s firm 26th-minute sidefooted kick, aimed inches to Atkins’ left, squirmed under the home ’keeper’s body.

A flowing move moments later, starting with a strong Fyfield challenge and also involving Meredith, Rankine and Neil Barrett, might have seen City double their lead but Gash had the ball stolen off his toes while attempting a clever drag back to create the space for a shot.

After Racchi tested Atkins from distance, Jay Smith forced a long-range save from Michael Ingham and Perry was flagged offside having beaten the City ’keeper on the stroke of half-time.

The early stages of the second half saw Lawless receive his latest caution for a mistimed challenge, crashing into left-back Scott Barrow to earn himself a one-game ban.

He made amends on 58 minutes, however, with only his second goal in City colours.

He collected a pass from Gash before neatly shifting the ball around Barrow and crashing a ten-yard shot into the roof of Atkins’ net with his right foot.

Fyfield then added his name to the scoresheet on 73 minutes, although the home side were upset that City did not kick the ball out of play so grounded defender Tom Marshall could receive treatment.

With the powerful defender floored, several passes followed before Barrett swung in a cross from the right. Fyfield seemed to get the ball caught under his studs with his first attempt on goal but then poked a second effort past Atkins from six yards.

Tamworth did manage a spectacular consolation when Barrow fired an unstoppable free-kick into Ingham’s top right-hand corner.

But a delighted away end, cheering ‘Ole’ with every touch, were almost treated to a fantastic fourth goal in stoppage time.

A string of passes ended with Fyfield and Barrett combining to set up a chance for Gash, but his shot was well smothered by an alert Atkins.

While not quite a case of Lambs to the slaughter, City players will take great satisfaction from silencing many of their midweek critics.

Match facts

Tamworth 1 (Barrow 81), York City 3 (Rankine pen 27; Lawless 58; Fyfield 73)

York City: Michael Ingham 7, Daniel Parslow 7, David McGurk 7, Greg Young 7, Jamal Fyfield 9, Alex Lawless 9, Neil Barrett 8, Danny Racchi 8, James Meredith 7, Michael Gash 8, Michael Rankine 8.

Substitutions: Duane Courtney 7 (for Young, 69), Dave Dowson (for Rankine, 85).

Subs not used: David Knight, Peter Till, Leon Constantine.

Key: 10 – Faultless; 9 – Outstanding; 8 – Excellent; 7 – Good; 6 – Average; 5 – Below par; 4 – Poor; 3 – Dud; 2 – Hopeless; 1 – Retire.

City’s star man: Lawless – played with intelligence drifting inside from the right and should be encouraged to pop up in the penalty box more following his well-taken goal.

Tamworth: Ross Atkins, Richard Tait, Tom Marshall (Aaron Mitchell, 75), Michael Wylde, Scott Barrow, Jake Sheridan (Seb Lake-Gaskin, 63), Jay Smith, Ben Wilkinson (Daniel Bradley, 66), Alex Rodman, Kyle Perry, Danny Thomas.

Subs not used: Neil MacKenzie, Des Lyttle.

Booked: Tait 26, Young 44, Lawless 54, McGurk 80, Gash 81, Lake-Gaskin 87.

Shots on target: Tamworth 8, City 7.

Shots off target: Tamworth 11, City 1.

Corners: Tamworth 7, City 0.

Fouls conceded: Tamworth 7, City 16.

Offsides: Tamworth 1, City 0.

Referee: Mark Heywood (Cheshire).

Rating: competent display.

Attendance: 1,282 (236 from City).

Mistake of the match: Tait’s challenge on Rankine gave City the opportunity to go in front on their travels for the first time this season.

Shot of the match: Barrow’s free-kick left Ingham with no chance.

Head to head - Neil Barrett v Ben Wilkinson

City midfielder Barrett was more industrious than Bootham Crescent old boy Wilkinson.

Both players retained possession efficiently but Barrett’s distribution was often more telling than that from the son of former England caretaker manager Howard.

The best measure of the two players’ respective performances was provided by the fact that a withdrawn Wilkinson was watching from the bench as Barrett delivered the cross for City’s third goal.