HARD-FOUGHT, physical, disciplined, adaptable - pick an adjective and it will fit York City's 2-0 win over Kettering Town on Tuesday night.

Kettering were barely off the team bus before a Sean Newton set-piece double had the Minstermen 2-0 up, dispatching a fifth-minute penalty won by Olly Dyson, three minutes before curling in a free kick from 20 yards.

But the visitors made York work for the win, and City were up to the test. With the big centre-forward Kyle Perry leading the line, Kettering took a direct and physical approach to goal but were well repelled by the Minstermen's solid defence.

Kettering had a mountain to climb, and played better football in the second half than the first half promised but, in truth, keeper Pete Jameson was largely untroubled and York - mostly playing on the counter - saw out the game well.

The win - a third on the bounce - sees York soar up to fourth in National League North, seven points off leaders Gloucester City, with four games in hand.

City set up with three at the back for Kettering, as they had finished the Chester win. Of the players who finished the 90 at the weekend, Reon Potts was the only man to return to the bench.

After coming on as a substitute on Saturday, Kieran Kennedy came into the starting 11 with central defensive partners Matty Brown and Sean Newton. Robbie Tinkler and Scott Barrow flanked the trio.

Jack Redshaw was brought back to the bench after starting the Blyth and Chester games back-to-back. Paddy McLaughlin came in for the man he replaced on Saturday, Michael Woods. The midfielder joined the substitutes bench, which also featured young centre-back Harry Spratt.

McLaughlin and Akil Wright tended to sit deeper as Olly Dyson supported Jake Cassidy and Harry Bunn.

There was only one change for Kettering from their 2-1 win over Blyth Spartans at the weekend, and that was on the bench, Michael McGrath coming in for Decarrey Sherriff.

With five goals from nine games, Connor Kennedy is Kettering’s leading marksman and seventh in the division overall. He was backed up by three-goal midfielder Callum Powell and Ryan Fryatt, who has two goals so far this season. The latter pair both scored against Blyth, and all three started on Tuesday.

The emphasis for York appeared to be on playing the ball over the ground, and a confident passing move up the pitch eventually saw Dyson turn well inside the area, where he was bundled over. Newton comfortably dispatched the fifth-minute spot kick.

Three minutes later, Newton was stood over another set piece – a free kick a few yards outside the area – and he curled over the wall and in.

Kettering’s first half-chance came after a quarter of an hour, when Michael Richens let fly from distance following the visitors’ theretofore longest spell in possession. Keeper Pete Jameson started to scramble back but it drifted wide.

Since York’s opening salvo, Kettering had enjoyed much of the ball, and threatened largely through punts into the box, drives from range, and corners won from both. By the halfway mark of the opening period, City had had to clear six such set pieces.

The more acclaimed overland route preferred by City was well cut off by sharp pressing from the Minstermen, though it was more eschewed by the visitors’ choice, since they were gaining plenty of traction by reducing the contest to physicality. Newton felt particularly aggrieved his claims of shirt-pulling had not been acknowledged.

Both Jameson and Kettering’s powerful centre-forward Kyle Perry received a talking-to following their continued tussles in the box before Perry sent an overhead kick over the bar.

Cassidy, who had received two yellows on Saturday, picked up another by going into the back of Jevan Anderson when they both went for a header, and he was swiftly followed into the book by Kennedy, whose wild challenge left Barrow limping back onto the pitch. He was replaced by Spratt with two minutes to go to the break.

Jameson’s first save came in the 38th-minute, when Kettering throw into the area was nodded on and Anderson headed back across goal from inside the six-yard box. The effort lacked power but the keeper still did well to claw it away.

Powell showed impressive skill and pace to go the long way around Kennedy and still leave him for dead before swerving Tinkler’s challenge to get away a saved effort on target.

Kettering players were clamouring for Cassidy to receive a second yellow after Luke Graham went down under contact with the striker.

And the well-travelled Cassidy could have - and maybe should have - rubbed salt in the wounds not long after when Wright laid off for him in space in the area. He was denied by keeper Adam Collin’s outstretched foot.

He was brought off at the break for Potts, whose early contribution was a neat touch and backheel which resulted in a York corner.

That, and nice interplay between Bunn and a marauding Spratt – whose cross was easily cut out – were bright points for York in the opening five minutes of the second half, in which Kettering seemed to find more confidence. Over the next 10 minutes, they dug out a couple of efforts on goal where York had none.

Not just on the scoreboard, though, York were pretty much in control and able to cut out Kettering’s advances, as well as looking a threat on the break. From a Jameson clearance, Bunn was softly penalised after turning his man, while a determined Dyson beat his marker and picked himself up off the ground to win a corner.

The threat of a threat is all that remained as time ebbed away. The visitors maintained their intensity but could not breach the hosts’ final lines of defence.

York substitute Redshaw again showcased his good footwork and movement, taking some nice touches and getting in between defenders. The one good chance he fashioned for himself -York’s only shot on goal in the second half - was tipped around the corner by Collin.

York: Jameson 7, Tinkler 6, Kennedy 6, Brown 7, Newton 7, Barrow 6 (Spratt 7, 43), McLaughlin 6, Wright 6, Dyson 7 (Redshaw 7, 66), Bunn 7, Cassidy 6 (Potts 6, HT). Subs not used: Flatters, Woods.

Star man: Sean Newton. Like fellow defender Matty Brown, Newton stood up to a barrage from the visitors, and proved the difference at the other end.

Goals: Newton (5 pen, 8)

Yellow cards: Cassidy, Newton, Spratt

Kettering: Collin, Stohrer, Anderson (Pryce 75), Milnes (Stephens 75), Fryatt, Graham, Powell, Kennedy, Perry, Richens, Sharpe (McGrath HT). Subs not used: Williams, Scott.

Yellow cards: Kennedy, Perry

Match stats for York / Kettering

Shots (on target): 7 (5) / 9 (3)

Corners: 5 / 9

Offsides: 2 / 2

Fouls: 15 / 16

Yellow cards: 3 / 2

Penalties: 1 / 0