YORK City sustained their remarkable raid on the National League North play-off spots with a 2-0 win at fellow promotion-chasers AFC Fylde on Tuesday evening.

Lenell John-Lewis and Mitch Hancox scored within six second-half minutes of each other to take City into seventh place as they sealed their fifth league win on the bounce.

City were impressive in their high press and intensity for the majority of the first half and had the more dangerous moments but failed to make them count.

York looked slightly off-colour at the start of the second half but contained their hosts, and struck the vital opener after former Fylde man Kurt Willoughby had been brought on.

Fylde looked rocked, and City reinvigorated - and after brilliant work from Michael Duckworth, Hancox sealed the deal.

York manager John Askey made one change to the side that started Saturday’s 3-0 win over Guiseley, with Sam Sanders missing out entirely and AJ Greaves coming into the 11 after starting on the bench at the weekend.

In the centre-back’s absence, Akil Wright stepped into the breach to partner Maxim Kouogun in the heart of defence as Greaves – on loan from Doncaster Rovers – went into the midfield alongside the weekend’s goalscorers Paddy McLaughlin and Mitch Hancox.

Striker Willoughby, returning to his old stamping ground for the first time since joining City on a permanent deal, remained on the bench alongside Clayton Donaldson as John-Lewis was preferred up front in the lone striker’s role.

There was just the one change from Jim Bentley to Fylde’s starting line-up as well, Nathan Shaw coming in and displacing Jorome Slew to the bench.

Having signed for Fylde from Hartlepool United last Tuesday, experienced striker Mark Cullen provided some added firepower alongside top scorer Nick Haughton.

The opening exchanges did not disappoint those hoping for a decent footballing spectacle. City were high in the press early on and looked dangerous winning the ball back in the Fylde half.

But the hosts grew into possession fairly swiftly and had a couple of threatening moments of their own. Cullen glanced a tricky header over when unmarked in the six-yard box while Haughton put a dipping free kick on target though Pete Jameson was down well for it.

Greaves picked up the game’s first yellow card for a rash challenge from behind on Haughton, whose free kick from 25 yards out this time was wide of the mark.

The loanee’s caution was in large part the product of a bouncy start which saw him busy up and down the middle of the pitch, breaking up play and, around the quarter-hour mark, standing up a delightful ball to the back post.

After a spot of danger from the hosts, by the midway point of the half, pretty much all the threat around the 18-yard boxes belonged to York. Michael Duckworth thundered an effort from range straight into Chris Neal’s arms before John-Lewis’s low ball into the area just evaded Jack McKay.

In an engagingly fast-paced, to-and-fro encounter, Fylde had a tame Ben Tollitt effort blocked away for a corner before Hancox – receiving the ball after Duckworth had picked off a stray Harry Davis pass – dragged an effort just wide of Neal’s left-hand upright.

Just after the half-hour, Scott Barrow curled a well-worked short corner routine over before swinging in a wicked cross, which John-Lewis got his head to and drew a fairly comfortable save from Neal from close range.

Tollitt forced Jameson into a decent shot with an effort from range before Hancox picked up a caution for bringing the winger down from behind to bring the half to a close.

City’s half had been promising, their pressing in the middle of the park particularly impressive, though they had perhaps lacked a touch of incisiveness, a couple of balls at crucial moments just missing their man.

Fylde had also shown a greater willingness to try their luck from range and they edged the shots-on-goal tally at the break, though neither keeper had been unduly troubled.

City retained their verve for the start of the second half but the quality on the ball was curiously lacking at times, with a couple of straightforward passes failing to find their target.

The hosts were seeing more of the ball after the restart but were fairly conservative in possession, perhaps hoping that keeping hold of the ball would yield better results than they saw in the blood-and-thunder first half.

By the hour mark, the one shot on goal belonged to Fylde. Haughton twisted and turned in the area before digging out an effort which went just wide.

And their patience looked like it was paying off as, around the midway point of the second half, they looked on top and had enjoyed the more ominous forays forward.

But once again, after his heroics against Morpeth a few weeks ago, Willoughby looked an inspired substitution. He was involved down the left as he held the ball up before laying the ball back to Barrow, who curled a mid-height cross into the area. It bounced off a City shirt into the path of John-Lewis, who turned and struck home into Neal’s bottom-right corner.

Six minutes later, it was two. Duckworth made an outstanding run through the middle and held off until the perfect moment to lay off for Hancox, who drilled in his third goal in two games with aplomb, left-footed between Neal’s legs.

In control and on the up, City were able to see out the remaining quarter of an hour, though Jameson made a couple of sharp interventions in the area to keep it as comfortable a scoreline as it was.

Fylde: Neal, Obi, Tollitt, Philliskirk, Haughton, Cullen, Shaw (Slew 77), Evans, Perkins, Pike, Davis. Subs not used: Stott, Conlan, Joyce, Robinson.

Yellow cards: Obi

York: Jameson 8, Duckworth 8, Barrow 7, McLaughlin 8, Dyson 7, Greaves 8, Kouogun 8, Wright 8, Hancox 8, John-Lewis 8, McKay 7 (Willoughby 8, 68). Subs not used: Campbell, Woods, Donaldson, Haase.

Star man: Michael Duckworth. It is tough to single out one performer from an across-the-board excellent display. Duckworth could hardly have done better at the back against tricky opposition, and that run before Hancox’s goal was inspired.

Goals: John-Lewis (70), Hancox (76)

Yellow cards: Greaves, Hancox

Referee: Jonathan Maskrey

Attendance: 1,058

Stats for Fylde | York

Shots (on target): 10 (3) | 13 (5); Corners: 5 | 7; Offsides: 1 | 2; Fouls: 4 | 8; Yellow cards: 1 | 2