YORK City have dropped out of the Vanarama National League North play-off places after suffering a crushing 3-0 defeat at mid-table Alfreton Town.

York never got to grips with the direct nature of Alfreton’s play as they chose to go long in every set-ball situation.

Town could hardly be blamed for such tactics given the rewards it produced. Dominic Smith scored from a long throw-in while Matt Rhead converted a penalty after City failed to clear a free-kick - a feature of the afternoon.

City by contrast offered little up front and, a first-half Olly Dyson header aside, never looked like scoring. Capping off an awful 90 minutes was a late Rhead header which left more questions of York’s defence, particularly away from home.

You would be clutching at straws to try to take any positives from this. But with other top seven contenders not taking full advantage, York remain outside the play-offs only on goal difference and still with a game in hand.

With that said, if performances continue in this vein over the last five matches, making the top seven, let alone aiming to competing in the play-offs, looks a long way off.

In Good Friday’s 1-0 win over Spennymoor Town, Paddy McLaughlin and Clayton Donaldson made keen impacts off the bench and both came in from the start at the Impact Arena.

As a result, Lenell John-Lewis and Kurt Willoughby dropped to the bench.

While the inclusion of McLaughlin and Donaldson sought to improve York’s misfiring attack, it did little to strengthen a struggling defence which appears particularly susceptible to direct opposition.

Alfreton fit perfectly into that description, as you could tell from the early minutes and from the sight of target man Rhead leading their line.

From every set piece, Alfreton went long and it soon paid off as they took the lead after just seven minutes.

Adam Lund launched a long throw-in into the box which City goalkeeper Peter Jameson aimed to come out and punch clear but the contact was poor and the ball ended up dribbling into the back of his own net.

The goal was officially given to Smith, although it could well have been anybody’s given the amount of bodies fighting for the ball in the box.

York did register a shot on goal through McLaughlin’s drilled strike on a dozen minutes but Alfreton looked the most threatening side in the early exchanges.

Lund saw a shot bobble off the uneven surface and the shot hit Jameson, who knew little about the effort.

Another long throw then saw Rhead flick a header wide of the far post.

Things then went from bad to worse for City just shy of a quarter of the way into the contest.

Once more York were unable to deal with a dead ball into the box as Scott Barrow was adjudged to have fouled a home attacker.

The referee initially showed a red card to the full-back but changed his mind after discussions with several City players.

From the spot, Rhead made no mistake as he sent Jameson the wrong way to further compound the visitors’ woes.

Rhead almost turned provider when substitute Lewis Salmon met his flick on and produced a good one-on-one save from Jameson.

In response, York sought to pass their way through Alfreton in periods of sustained possession. Their best chance of the half though came from a cross as Matty Brown delivered to Dyson whose free header should have found the back of the net rather than George Willis’ palms.

As the half drew to an end and York appeared to be getting a foothold into the match, a sucker-blow was delivered.

Michael Duckworth picked up the ball with no one around him but immediately dropped to the ground with his knee appearing to be injured.

It was another cruel blow for the defender who has had no luck with injuries this season as he was stretchered off.

Even with the words of manager John Askey likely ringing in the players’ ears, it was Alfreton who looked most likely to score first after half time.

A free-kick into the York box dropped nicely for Rhead who had an attempt well blocked by the last-ditch City backline.

The Minstermen did soon settle back down and began to look like the only side interested in scoring as Alfreton sat on their two-goal cushion. With Akil Wright finally seeing some ball in midfield, York could finally build from the back.

There were more penalty appeals than clear-cut chances early in the second half as City appealed for handball while Bailey Hobson went down very softly in the other box.

After the hour, Sam Sanders was brought off the bench and went into a three-man defence, showing Askey’s attacking intentions.

It provided little response on the field though as Willis continued to go untested, only called into action from a tame Dyson header straight into his hands.

Willis sprung into action when, after a Maziar Kouhyar blocked shot, the ball fell for Willoughby whose low shot was brilliantly stopped by the number one.

Just as John-Lewis prepared to give one late attacking push from the bench, Alfreton put the result beyond any doubt.

It was arguably the worst of the three goals to concede as a long free-kick from inside Alfreton’s half found Rhead who had peeled off at the back post with the Town talisman nodding a header in at the far stick.

The goal cued several of the huge travelling York support to make their way to the exit and you could hardly blame them.

Alfreton: Willis, Clackstone, Wiley, Branson, Sutton, Smith, Ceesay (Salmon 14’), Lund, Rhead (C), Southwell (Preston 73’), Hobson.

Subs not used: Smith-Eccles, Johnson, Butterfield.

Goals: Smith (7’), Rhead (21’, 80’)

Yellow cards:

York: Jameson 4, Duckworth 3 (Willoughby 43’), Kouogun 4, Brown (C) 4, Barrow 4, Wright 4, McLaughlin 4, Hancox 4 (Sanders 5 62’), Dyson 5, Donaldson 3, Kouhyar 4 (John-Lewis 80’).

Subs not used: Campbell, McKay.

Yellow cards: Barrow (21’)

York’s star man: Olly Dyson. Worked hard down the right in both attack and defence.

Referee: Darren Rogers

Attendance: 1,070

Shots (on target): 12 (9) | 11 (7)

Corners: 1 | 2

Offsides: 1 | 0

Fouls committed: 14 | 14