CLAYTON DONALDSON scored his second brace in two games to seal York City a nerve-racking 2-1 win at Darlington in National League North.

The threatening Donaldson, who had already been caught offside and poked an effort wide by the 20th minute, opened the scoring when he poked home from a corner.

Twelve minutes later, he made it two from a penalty after Darlington spectacularly imploded, also having Jake Cooper sent off in a separate event during a manic few minutes.

Though York started the second half in a controlled manner, when Luke Charman squeezed home a goal for Darlington, the visitors seemed to lose their panache. Five minutes of injury time felt interminable.

In the end, York were able to hold the ball up the Darlington end enough to secure the three points and a move up to 11th in the table.

There was only the one change to Steve Watson’s starting 11 from that which began last week’s FA Cup win over Hebburn with Kurt Willoughby dropping to the bench and Sam Fielding coming back into the line-up alongside Matty Brown at the heart of the defence.

The impressive Olly Dyson was relieved of his right-back duties, pushed back into a four-man midfield, as Josh King replaced him on the right of the defence. Michael Duckworth continued on the left.

Ex-Minsterman Jake Cassidy – with two goals from five games this season – started for Alun Armstrong’s side, which featured no Kallum Griffiths at all.

Alex Purver came in with the right-back injured as one of two changes from Tuesday night’s FA Cup defeat at Chester. Jarrett Rivers came in for Andrew Nelson.

On the bench were Portuguese former Tadcaster Albion winger Kevin Dos Santos and ex-Whitby Town attacker Junior Mondal.

It was a breathless start to proceedings and Darlington looked well up for what is usually a fiery affair. They settled the quicker of the sides and got some joy early on, playing rapidly and directly. Two early corners – the latter won when Fielding covered smartly for Brown, who was caught out by a good lofted ball forward – came to nothing.

City came more into it as the clock hit double digits, Dyson and Heaney both looking bright in the middle. Clayton Donaldson was caught offside early on, playing off target man Mark Beck, before he poked a shot wide in front of the travelling fans when through one-on-one with keeper Tommy Taylor.

Donaldson did not have to wait much longer for his goal, though. Heaney swung in a corner from the right side and his cross dropped scruffily into the six-yard box, where the veteran was waiting to pounce.

The tables had definitely turned by the half-hour mark and as York grew into the game, Darlington lost their heads. In a blizzard of self-destructiveness, Joe Wheatley was shown a yellow for flying in recklessly on Heaney – who skipped over the challenge anyway but then lost the ball – before Ben Hedley was shown a straight red. It was perhaps a touch harsh on the Darlo man, whose body-check on Dyson definitely deserved a yellow, and the red seemed to catch most of the crowd by surprise.

The second arrived from the penalty spot in the 35th minute. Mark Beck was hauled down in the area and Donaldson dinked in an audacious Panenka, letting Taylor go to ground before chipping straight down the middle of the goal.

Donaldson should have had his hat-trick goal before the break. Winning the ball back in the centre of the park, Heaney curved a lovely pass into Donaldson’s path but from just inside the area, he blazed over.

City showed the composure on the ball Watson has been calling for to see out the rest of the half.

Overall a good half, though York could have done with ironing out some of the sloppier balls forward. When done well, Beck was an effective target man and Donaldson useful playing off him but other times it was a cheap way to lose possession.

When City got it on the deck, they showed their quality with some slick passing around the 10 men of Darlington.

But just after the hour mark, Darlington put the cat among the pigeons with Luke Charman’s goal. From a left-sided cross and a Cassidy flick-on, Charman found himself unmarked mere yards from Pete Jameson’s near post. The keeper made himself big but the ball wriggled through his legs.

York rode the wave of post-goal pressure but struggled to regain the rhythm they had beforehand. Donaldson and Willoughby, the latter on for Fielding, both had decent chances comfortably saved. Willoughby was put through on goal, on an angle, by a neat ball from Woods, who had done fantastically to nip in in front of his man and claim possession.

Good work from Willoughby then almost set up Donaldson for a straightforward finish from yards out but the striker somehow conspired to slice his effort towards the corner flag.

By the closing minutes, the game was very open. Far from comfortable for York, neither side looked like adding to their tally, though Darlington had the impetus. York gave no impression other than that they wanted the final whistle blown, exemplified by both Jameson and Harrison Hopper being booked for time-wasting.

Darlington: Taylor, Smith, Wheatley (Lambert 81), Storey, Hedley, Hatfield, Charman, Rivers (Beauchamp 73), Cassidy, Purver, Cooper. Subs not used: Taylor, Mondal, Dos Santos.

Goals: Charman (61)

Yellow cards: Wheatley, Purver

Red cards: Cooper

York: Jameson 6, King 7, Fielding 6 (Willoughby 6, 51), Brown 7, Duckworth 6, Dyson 7, Wright 6, Woods 7, Heaney 7 (Hopper 6, 68), Donaldson 7, Beck 6. Subs not used: Campbell, Cunningham, Gilchrist.

Goals: Donaldson (23, 35 pen)

Yellow cards: Jameson, Hopper

Star man: Olly Dyson. A livewire down the right, he seemed to relish his return to the midfield and the freedom to cut inside.

Referee: Richard Aspinall

Attendance: 2,176

Stats for Darlington / York

Shots (on target): 1 (1) / 12 (5)

Corners: 5 / 9

Offsides: 1 / 2

Fouls: 8 / 7

Yellow cards: 2 / 2

Red cards: 1 / 0

Penalties: 0 / 1