YORK City's new owner John Batchelor toasted a winning start to his Bootham Crescent reign then immediately set his sights on the future.

The motor-racing boss admitted City's 2-0 derby win over Darlington had provided a "dream-start" to his time as chairman.

Introduced to the crowd on the pitch before kick-off, Batchelor, with a City scarf draped over his shoulders, received a standing ovation from the City faithful.

To cap it all and in a break with tradition, the 43-year-old was later crowned 'man-of-the-match' by the game's sponsors.

"I am stunned. What a day and what a performance," he said.

"The whole day was completely unreal for me and it was a fairytale ending.

"It couldn't have been a better result.

"Going out on to the pitch was great, it was something of a schoolboy dream to be able to do that.

"I promise not to make a habit of it but I couldn't resist it just this once.

"I have been in touch with the fans over the last few months over the Internet and through e-mail and it was nice to say hello to everyone."

However, while Batchelor was delighted to be basking in the glory of a win to kick-start his chairmanship, he admitted a lot of hard work to transform the club's fortunes lay ahead.

"We have got to sort the commercial side of the club out and hope that the team continue playing like this for the rest of the season and then take the summer to have a look at it," he said.

Prior to kick-off, Batchelor, who has promised a "cultural change" at Bootham Crescent, made a point of introducing himself to many of the club's backroom staff, including those who work in the club shop and programme sellers.

He almost missed his first City goal as chairman - scored on 55 minutes by Mike Basham - as he took time out to meet and greet yet more match-day workers at half-time.

"I went around the back of the ground just to get a feel of what the people in the backroom do, just to see what we can do to help them and see where we can improve things," he explained.

"I missed the first five minutes of the second-half, I'm glad I didn't miss anymore."

Batchelor's arrival at the club appears to have already had a positive effect on the attendance at Bootham Crescent.

Although Darlington fans made up more than 800 of the 3,903 crowd, the figure was up by almost 700 compared to last season's corresponding fixture.

The gate was also around 900 more than City's average home attendance this season.

"It was nearly 4,000 but I'd like to think York could muster 8,000 quite easily," said Batchelor.

"So for anyone reading this and hovering on the edges wondering whether to come or not, perhaps next time we are at home they should consider coming down.

"It was entertaining and I thought the team were extremely unlucky not to have got a couple of goals in the first-half.

"In the second half we came out and buried them, brilliant."

Updated: 09:01 Monday, March 18, 2002