Altrincham 0, York City 3

Minstermen boss Billy McEwan regularly stresses the need for pride, passion and professionalism from his players and his side displayed all three qualities during last night's 3-0 victory at Altrincham.

The pride and passion was illustrated by angry early altercations between visiting City players as skipper Emmanuel Panther, among others, demanded higher standards, following a worrying start that saw Altrincham rattle the crossbar after just 12 minutes.

Professionalism then came to the fore in the second half when City played with purpose to complete the job after strikers Clayton Donaldson and Andy Bishop, no strangers to p-words themselves, had given their team a commanding 3-0 lead to take into the interval.

A predatory first goal from Donaldson was followed by a powerful angled strike by Bishop, who claimed his 20th league goal of a prolific season in perfect style.

The pace of Donaldson then saw him race clear of the Altrincham defence before he curled an exquisite shot into the top corner for a finish that drew worthy comparisons to Arsenal star Thierry Henry.

It was certainly a sweet way to strike his 16th goal of the campaign.

Passing was also, as ever with McEwan's team, crucial to last night's triumph and City's quick movement of the ball saw their part-time opponents sometimes chasing shadows after Donaldson broke the deadlock.

But it was Altrincham who had the better of the early exchanges with James Dudgeon and David McGurk both making crucial blocks from home striker Colin Little after just three minutes.

Warren Peyton's excellent 30-yard lob then crashed back into play off Chris Porter's crossbar.

The Minstermen threatened Stuart Coburn's goal for the first time on 16 minutes when Darren Dunning's looping header drifted wide.

Eight minutes later, the visitors went ahead when Mark Convery retrieved the ball after an Andy Bishop shot had been blocked and then intuitively chipped the ball back to the far post from the by-line where Donaldson was waiting to head in from close range.

Convery was again the architect of City's second goal, darting into the penalty box before flicking the ball to Andy Bishop with the outside of his boot.

Bishop then produced a moment of magic that inspired an elated McEwan to jig down the touchline and evoke memories of Jose Mourinho and Old Trafford.

The Conference top scorer slammed the ball into the roof of the net from a tight angle to double City's lead on 33 minutes.

Donaldson put the game beyond Altrincham with a strike, five minutes before the break, that proved the equal of Bishop's.

The former Hull City striker latched on to a long clearance by McGurk that home midfielder Steve Aspinall misjudged and outstripped the home defence before bending the ball around Coburn and into his top left-hand corner from 15 yards.

Porter, however, still needed to be alert to push a Chris Adams header around his near post seconds before the interval.

In the second half, City continued to press forward with McEwan fully aware of the importance of goal difference.

Midfielders Dunning and Panther both had goalbound efforts blocked on 56 minutes and Donaldson's downward header bounced narrowly wide to prevent him celebrating a first senior hat-trick.

Andy Bishop also volleyed straight at Coburn after Donaldson's cross had afforded him a free shot on the Altrincham 'keeper's goal.

McEwan even enjoyed the luxury of handing trainees Alex Rhodes and Nathan Kamara their first-team debuts with 15 minutes to go, although Altrincham veteran Little went close to grabbing a stoppage-time consolation for the home team, jinking his way past several City defenders before seeing his low shot well saved by Porter.

Match facts

Altrincham 0, York City 3 (Donaldson 24, 40, A Bishop 33)

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

Thomas 8

Dudgeon 8

McGurk 8

Peat 7

Convery 8 (Rhodes 75)

N Bishop 7 (O'Neill 66 7)

Panther 8

Dunning 7 (Kamara 77)

A Bishop 8

Donaldson 8

Subs (not used): Reid, Hotte.

Star man: Donaldson - displayed the match-winning qualities that can make him a thorn in any Conference team's side.

Altrincham: Stuart Coburn, Gary Scott, Karl Munroe, Gary Talbot (Kieran Lugsden, 71), Chris Adams (Pat McFadden, 64), Ged Murphy (Colin Potts, 54), Steve Aspinall, Val Owen, Warren Peyton, Peter Band, Colin Little. Subs not used: Rod Thornley, Blake Norton.

Yellow cards: Scott 73, O'Neill 84, Band 90.

Referee: Andy Hendley (Halesowen) Rating: good, no memorable mistakes.

Attendance: 1,237.

Weather watch: Still cold enough for Donaldson to be wearing gloves.

Game breaker: Andy Bishop's second goal turned the tide in a previously keenly-contested clash.

Match rating: Sticky start but clinical finishing from City's strikers eased nerves and saw old confidence return. McEwan's verdict: "We rode our luck in the first ten minutes and they caused us problems but we weathered that, absorbed it and kept another clean sheet."

Player watch: James Dudgeon

Shots on target: 0

Shots off target: 1

Blocked shots: 0

Passes to own player: 5

Passes to opposition: 1

Crosses to own player: 0

Crosses to opposition: 0

Pass success rate: 83.3 per cent

Dribbles ball retained: 0

Dribbles ball lost: 0

Dribbles success rate: 0 per cent

Headers: 22 Tackles: 8

Clearances, blocks and interceptions: 11 Offsides: 0

Free-kicks won: 2

Free-kicks conceded: 0

Yellow cards: 1

Final summary: A typically solid, no-nonsense display from City's uncompromising centre-back. Won his normally high share of tackles and headers and cleared the ball more times than he passed it. Also, as ever, threatened at the other end with an injury-time header over the crossbar.

Updated: 10:22 Wednesday, April 05, 2006