Accrington Stanley 2, York City 1

The 21-year-old midfielder - rarely spectacular but regularly inspirational - has been the heartbeat of the team during City's excellent start to the season and his prompting, desire for possession and movement around the pitch were all sorely missed at the Crown Ground.

With Panther unavailable for a Conference match for the first time this season, midfield trio Lev Yalcin, Mark Convery and Darren Dunning struggled to impose themselves on Saturday's game and potent strikers Andy Bishop and Clayton Donaldson were starved of service for most of the afternoon.

Only on-loan centre-back David McGurk's absence would be as keenly felt as that of Panther at KitKat Crescent and Billy McEwan is now contemplating whether the 4-3-3 formation he employed until the 49th minute at Accrington can prove successful without the former St Johnstone and Partick Thistle midfielder at its hub.

The short, quick passing game McEwan covets is certainly more difficult to implement.

Other than Bishop's well-taken 61st-minute equaliser, City only mustered one on-target goal attempt at rookie 18-year-old, on-loan Charlton 'keeper Darren Randolph and even that was a mis-hit Dunning cross.

It was a disappointing tally against a defence that has conceded 22 league goals this season and had been breached three times in their last outing - an FA Cup replay at Conference North strugglers Worcester City.

Unsurprisingly, Stanley's back-line also started this game as if Halloween had arrived two days earlier in Lancashire. They looked frightened to death.

Home defender Leam Richardson was fortunate not to receive one of the quickest red cards in football history when his first-minute handball was deemed deliberate by erratic referee Stephen Cummings but only a cautionable offence despite his intervention denying Bishop an unopposed run at goal.

From the resulting free-kick, Dunning's cross to the back post somehow eluded a neglectfully unmarked McGurk.

On 17 minutes, the pace of Donaldson then teased another yellow card out of right-back Danny Ventre who, as last man, again feared greater punishment although the City striker appeared to stumble rather than fall as the result of any contact.

The Minstermen, however, failed to capitalise on those early defensive nerves and the home side's fragile confidence grew during a scrappy and sometimes feisty first half which saw John Coleman's men take the lead a minute before the interval.

A poor lay-off by Bishop surrendered posession on the half-way line and strapping striker Paul Mullin held the ball up expertly in the penalty box before teeing up a shot for David Brown that was beaten out by Chris Porter only for Gary Roberts to fire into an inviting net.

City levelled the scores on 61 minutes during a rare foray into the Stanley penalty box with Bishop sending a soaring header over Randolph after Dunning had delivered a free-kick won on the left wing by Donaldson.

Just seven minutes later, however, the visitors were trailing again.

A penetrating run by Bryan Stewart ended on the edge of the penalty box and, while the City substitute was left appealing vainly for a free kick, Accrington found left-winger Roberts, who had ran into space behind and between Jamie Price and James Dudgeon to good effect in the second half.

His unselfish cross picked out Mullin, whose scuffed shot somehow bounced over the line despite the presence of Merris, McGurk and Yalcin between him and the goal.

City's search for an equaliser were limited to a rising 20-yard drive from Stewart and a McGurk header, which both missed the target, and their efforts were frustrated in five minutes of stoppage time by players straying offside or unable to deliver a telling pass.

Porter, meanwhile, made two fine saves to deny Accrington a third goal, stretching out a leg to stop Ian Craney's low shot and back-pedalling to tip over Steve Jagielka's attempted 30-yard lob.

Jagielka also lifted the ball over a gaping net but City could not profit from his profligacy.

Match facts

Accrington 2 (Roberts 44, Mullin 68)

York City 1 (Bishop 61)

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

Porter 7

Price 6

Dudgeon 6

McGurk 7

Merris 7

Convery 6 (Mallon 82)

Yalcin 6

Dunning 6

O'Neill 6 (Stewart 49 7)

Bishop 7

Donaldson 7

Subs (not used): Stockdale, Webster, Staley

Star man: Merris - defended solidly and drove forward to good effect

Accrington Stanley: Randolph, Ventre, Edwards, Welch, Richardson, Jagielka, Craney, Barry, Roberts, Brown ( Mangan, 79), Mullin. Subs: M O'Neill, Boco, Cook, Lee.

Yellow cards: Richardson 1, Ventre 17, Dunning 33, Craney 38, Bishop 61, Price 67.

Referee: Stephen Cummings (Runcorn) rating: struggled in a fiery atmosphere.

Attendance: 2,193.

Weather watch: Overcast and breezy.

Game breaker: Accrington's second goal just seven minutes after City had grabbed an equaliser with a rare opportunity.

Match rating: Scrappy and competitive. Accrington had the greater muscle.

McEwan's verdict: "We got back in the game at 1-1 without playing as well as we can do but we did not defend particularly well. We gave them two goals by giving away possession too easily and that's disappointing."

Player watch: David McGurk

Shots on target: 0

Shots off target: 1

Blocked shots: 0

Passes to own player: 9

Passes to opposition: 5

Crosses to own player: 0

Crosses to opposition: 1

Pass success rate: 60 per cent

Dribbles ball retained: 0

Dribbles ball lost: 0

Dribble success rate: 0 per cent

Headers: 12 Tackles: 6

Clearances, blocks and interceptions: 12

Free-kicks won: 4

Free-kicks conceded: 0

Offsides: 0 Bookings: 0

Final summary: As ever, David McGurk made some telling challenges. His distribution was generally okay, but Paul Mullin's physical presence gave him a tough afternoon and, unusually for a centre-back, he was awarded four free-kicks and did not concede any.

Updated: 10:29 Monday, October 31, 2005