JOHN ASKEY proclaimed that York City’s 1-1 draw with fellow promotion chasers Chorley “felt like a win.”

York led early on through Akil Wright’s header but found themselves on the back foot when Matty Brown was shown a straight red card and Harry Cardwell equalised in quick succession.

10-man City managed to hold on for a point in the second half despite plenty of pressure from Chorley.

Although the result leaves York trailing the Vanarama National League North play-off places by three points, Askey insisted that the group were delighted with the draw.

The interim manager described the display as “gutsy” and “determined,” adding: “It’s what we want and it’s what the supporters want to see.

“Although we didn’t get the win, it felt like a win in the end. It was a shame that we had a man sent off because I thought we started the game well and we looked a decent side.

“When they all perform like that and every single one performed as hard as they did, it brings you together as a group.

“We needed that and we need to push on from this now.”

Brown was sent off for a rash challenge late in the first half. Despite Billy Whitehouse being near his own corner flag, the defender dived in and protested little about the eventual outcome.

“Browny shouldn’t have gone in as rash as he did,” said Askey.

“I think that surface where he’s gone in, with it being wet, he’s gone in on the player but he’s not gone on top of the ball or anything like that.

“He’s just gone in, slipped and taken the player out.

“He should have been going back towards his own goal at the time really. It’s something that we’ll have to have a look at.

“He’s made a mistake and we can’t do anything about it. But the reaction from the players was fantastic.”

York were playing in front of a record LNER Community Stadium crowd of 4,512, as numerous fans took advantage of the club’s reduced ticket prices.

Askey came under fire from supporters for his comments earlier in the week calling for supporters not to boo the team.

But he reserved praise for the bolstered crowd that turned out at Monks Cross.

“I think the support we had was a massive help to us, the supporters really got behind us,” he said.

“Hopefully we can get that every week, but we’ve got to give them something to shout about.”