YORK City boss Steve Watson hailed his ten-man team’s “heart” as they came back from behind to secure a 3-3 draw at FC United of Manchester.

Adriano Moke was red carded in first-half stoppage time for two bookable offences in the space of three minutes with the hosts leading 2-1 at the time, courtesy of a Dale Whitham brace either side of Macaulay Langstaff’s equaliser.

England C international Kurt Willoughby then grabbed a third for United early in the second half, but the Minstermen hit back to earn a share of the spoils courtesy of sub Wes York and Langstaff’s second goal.

On an eventful contest at Broadhurst Park, the City boss said: “The two goals we conceded in the first half were so disappointing. We didn’t take any responsibility in our own penalty box and didn’t react quickly enough, and we had enough experience out there to do better.

“After the sending off, we then conceded just three minutes into the second half and they will say they should have gone on to seal the match, but the lads showed great heart and they got a second wind halfway through the second half. It even looked like we could have won the game at the end and, when I asked the lads to dig in, their character came out.

“It was a match I would have loved three points from but, whilst it feels like a better draw than Saturday’s against Boston, had we done our jobs properly 11v11, then we should have been more than a match for FC United.”

Watson conceded that referee Sam Mulhall had no option to dismiss Moke when he lunged into a tackle on Dom McHale for his second caution but argued that the former Wrexham midfielder should not have had his name taken for his first indiscretion – a foul on Jack Banister.

The City boss was also unhappy with the standard of the officials all evening, declaring: “I don’t know where to start with the officiating.

“I thought we were on the end of some very bad decisions. I didn’t think Adriano Moke’s first yellow card should have been one because it was his first tackle of the match and wasn’t a bad one but, once he was booked, he shouldn’t have made the second challenge and the ref had to send him off.

“But their centre half also committed half-a-dozen fouls and he didn’t even get a booking. That’s consistent fouling and, whilst I’m not a manager who jumps off his seat wanting players booked, you just want some consistency.

“Then, right at the end, when Scott Burgess was clear on goal, he was in his own half and he was flagged offside but that didn’t surprise me to be honest. Every time the crowd roared, he blew, and one free kick was given against David Ferguson when the referee and his assistant weren’t even watching because I was looking at them.”

Along with his brace, Langstaff also teed up York’s goal when his shot crashed back into play off the home crossbar.

Having marked his return from a one-month loan spell at Bradford Park Avenue, meanwhile, by getting on the scoresheet in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Boston United, Watson reasoned that his form has justified the decision to farm him out for game time.

“It was pleasing to get three goals from wide positions and Macca is doing all he can do at the moment,” the City chief added. “He’s come back to us confident, fresh and sharp and, in the second half, we asked him to put in a bit of a different shift for us and he dug in and stayed on even though he was injured with a knock for the last 20 minutes.

“His all-round play can still improve, but he has a knack of getting himself in good areas. I’m a really, big fan of the loan system and don’t understand why more players don’t want to go out and play games, because it’s a short career and just training doesn’t get you to the level you need to be.

“We’re hoping that Jake Wright will come back from Boston the same as well.”

Watson started with skipper Jordan Burrow on the bench, ending the 17-goal top scorer’s run of 32 consecutive starts.

The former Gateshead forward has also played every minute of the club’s last 21 matches since mid-November and, after Watson turned to him as a half-time replacement for Jon Parkin following Moke’s sending off, the former Everton defender described Burrow’s response as “warrior” like.

“We started Jon because we wanted to go with one striker and have been lacking a real quality in our finishing from everybody,” Watson explained. “We see Jon in training every day and he’s one of the best finishers at the club, so you’re just hoping a chance falls to him.

“It didn’t work out like that, but Jordan then led the line well on his own with ten men. We decided to go with his fresh legs for the second half and it proved to be the right choice because he worked his socks off.

“He probably wanted to come on and show me that he should be starting every game and he looked like a warrior out there.”

On-loan Mansfield defender David Mirfin missed out on the game all together due to discomfort in his knee that he played through at the weekend.

Having seen City subsequently concede three times, Watson admitted: “Anybody would miss somebody with his experience, know-how and positional sense, but he has had a bit of swelling on his knee.

“He wasn’t quite right on Saturday either and it wasn’t a David Mirfin performance we saw against Boston. Hopefully, his knee will be OK and the swelling will go down for this weekend.”