York City 3 Darlington 1: report, pictures and stats

It was a result which almost seemed to come out of nowhere, with City again not up to their scintillating best, but they showcased a devastating opportunism to hammer home even the slightest advantage.

Kurt Willoughby broke the deadlock in the 69th minute with a cross which drifted all the way through to the back of Tommy Taylor’s net just two minutes before Mitch Hancox finished low beyond the shellshocked keeper.

With 10 minutes to go, the marauding Clayton Donaldson was pulled back by David Wheater and was awarded a penalty, which he himself put away.

Cameron Thompson netted late to rob Pete Jameson of his clean sheet on what was an entertaining derby night.

The Minstermen remain seventh in the table but, with Spennymoor Town winning at Chorley, are now just two points off fifth.

York boss John Askey made two changes to the starting 11 from Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Hereford.

After missing out at his parent club, on-loan midfielder Hancox came back into the side in place of Michael Woods, while Willoughby started down the left in the stead of Jack McKay. Both McKay and Woods started the evening on the bench.

Akil Wright was again at centre-back for the Minstermen, who continued with on-loan Doncaster Rovers 21-year-old AJ Greaves in the holding midfield role.

Darlington’s back line was shored up by former Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers centre-half Wheater. The 35-year-old, who carries a glut of Football League experience, made his second Quakers debut against Chorley a week and a half ago.

York were also coming up against former Minstermen in the form of striker Jake Cassidy and left-back Kallum Griffiths. Cassidy had four league goals going into the game, though none since last November.

A late goalscorer in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Blyth Spartans, Jake Lawlor continued in midfield.

Darlington enjoyed the better of the early exchanges as City – though better on the ball than at Hereford – struggled to hit top gear straight out of the blocks. Former Tadcaster Albion winger Kevin Dos Santos looked bright, putting an effort well over for Darlo, before Cassidy thundered a shot just too high, having been allowed to run too far through midfield.

City’s approach was none-too-adventurous to begin with, using stand-in captain Paddy McLaughlin as something of a target man, but by the 20th minute they were looking better with the ball on the deck. Willoughby curled an effort from the left of the area just beyond the far post.

Still, there was little of the fluent composure York have shown in recent weeks, highlighted by a rash, late challenge from Greaves on Will Hatfield. The City man went down holding his shin and was shown a yellow card before being brought off for Matty Brown. Wright subsequently moved into midfield.

That tackle followed Lenell John-Lewis going down under pressure from behind, and heralded a true derby-day atmosphere with both sets of fans dismayed with the officials. City fans’ appeals for a handball following a bouncing ball into the area fell on deaf ears.

York had two good chances within five minutes of each other, with Darlo keeper Taylor doing well for both – though the two City players maybe could have done better.

John-Lewis, latching on to a long ball forward and beating Wheater, thundered an effort straight at Taylor, who stayed big and made the angle difficult, before the keeper did well to race out and block a decent chance for Hancox following a one-two in the area.

Scott Barrow was shown yellow in the final minute of the first half despite appearing to win the ball when coming in from behind to challenge Jarrett Rivers. It was likely his protestations at being pulled up for a foul, rather than the challenge itself, which earned him the caution.

There was plenty of hard work from York as the second half got going though, again, dangerous chances were hard to come by as the men in red on the ball looked at times stranded and made unforced errors.

The visitors had the better chances on goal in the opening 20 minutes of the half. Thompson squeezed a ball across the area for Dos Santos to meet and win a corner, before Cassidy grazed the top of the crossbar with an effort from range.

And out of the blue, City shot into a two-goal lead. In the 69th minute – shortly after Clayton Donaldson was introduced for John-Lewis – Willoughby curled a right-footed cross into the area from the left. It beat the heads of everyone in the area and drifted past the wrong-footed Taylor.

Two minutes later, as Darlington were picking themselves up, the ball broke in midfield and Hancox was the fastest to it, finding himself in acres of space behind the Darlo back line. He advanced on the area, picked his spot beyond Taylor and dispatched low.

The third arrived from the penalty spot. Donaldson won the battle of the veterans, being held by Wheater in the box, and he put his penalty beyond Taylor – who guessed right – just inside the keeper’s left-hand post.

Thompson pulled one back in injury time for Darlo, making his way through the area before firing high into the net.

York: Jameson 7, Duckworth 6, Barrow 6, McLaughlin 6, Dyson 7, Willoughby 7, Greaves 5 (Brown 6, 30), Kouogun 7, Wright 7, Hancox 6, John-Lewis 6 (Donaldson 6, 66). Subs not used: Woods, Campbell, McKay.

Star man: Kurt Willoughby. Worked hard all game and once again made the unlikely first impact through sheer tenacity.

Goals: Willoughby (69), Hancox (71), Donaldson (80)

Yellow cards: Greaves, Barrow, Hancox

Darlington: Taylor, Hedley, Hatfield, Rivers, Cassidy, Dos Santos, Lawlor, Purver (Wheatley 83), Griffiths, Thompson, Wheater (Ellis 84). Subs not used: Smith, Storey, O’Neill 81).

Referee: Dane McCarrick

Attendance: 3,579 (616 away supporters)

Match stats for York | Darlington

Shots (on target): 9 (5) | 7 (3); Corners: 3 | 4; Offsides: 3 | 0; Fouls: 11 | 12; Yellow cards: 3 | 1