STEVE WATSON has called for “calm heads” after there were scenes of fighting among supporters after York City’s goalless draw at Curzon Ashton.

York were largely the better side in the stalemate and twice struck the crossbar. They were unable to break the deadlock though, and have now dropped to 11th in National League North and further behind in the division’s promotion race.

The game was somewhat marred by the ugly scenes surrounding it. During the second half, Watson and Jason Gilchrist were on the receiving end of verbal abuse from two or three supporters near the dugout as the latter prepared to come on off the bench.

Worse still were the number of punches thrown as York’s fans departed the ground. It is unclear which section of supporters was involved in the incident.

“It’s not been an easy season for lots of reasons,” said manager Watson. “There’s so much going on and we’ve got to keep calm heads.

“My job is to keep the players calm and keep their confidence high to get them ready for a Saturday. That’s all I can do.

“Whatever is going on on the terraces or in the boardroom, I can’t have an input on that, I’ve got to take care of the football side of things.”

Watson added of the incident involving Gilchrist: “Getting screamed at from 10 yards when you’re trying to do your job is difficult, especially when some of the statements were just mind-boggling.

“It’s awful but I can’t let that affect us, especially when it didn’t make any sense.

“We had to let that die down and let the stewards do their job and get the right sub made to try to get the right outcome.

“It’s not football. They seem to think that they’re entitled to do it. I can’t really get involved and I’m not getting into a slanging match.”