YORK City remain outside of the Vanarama National League North play-off spots after a frustrating draw with 10-man Gloucester City at the LNER Community Stadium.

Particularly after Gloucester were a man down, much of the game was commanded by York and their system of play, but for so long  they were unable to break down the defence of their visitors.

With just under 10 minutes left to play, though, it was Michael Woods in his first game for almost a month, that fired York in front.

The game seemed as good as won for York until, in the last minute of the game, York conceded a penalty after the referee deemed that the ball had been handled in the box.

Gloucester skipper Kevin Dawson sent Pete Jameson the wrong way with his spot-kick to salvage a point for his team.

Clayton Donaldson and Lenell John-Lewis each had chances to score after the penalty, but they could not convert in the dying embers of the match.

John Askey decided to draft in loanee Sam Sanders to fill the gap in York’s defence left by the injury to Michael Duckworth.

The full-back collapsed in pain in City’s 3-0 defeat away at Alfreton Town, ultimately being stretchered from the field, further thinning an already scarcely-numbered City defence.

Otherwise, the squad remained almost wholly unchanged, the only exception being Lenell John-Lewis’ inclusion in the starting 11 ahead of Clayton Donaldson.

York struggled to get a comprehensive grasp of possession for much of the game’s early stages, as Gloucester were quick and neat in possession going forward. 

On the few occasions when the Tigers did not have the ball in the opening ten minutes, they did well to apply pressure to the Minstermen, often forcing them into turning the ball over.

Though it took some time for York to settle into the match, they would have the first proper chance on goal of the game.

Maziar Kouhyar picked the ball up on the right wing and beat his man with a dazzling display of skill and composure.

The attacker drove into the box and pulled the ball back, though his team were not able to profit from his efforts.

Paddy McLaughlin would drag a shot wide not even five minutes later and it became apparent that the momentum was slowly shifting in York’s favour.

The Minstermen began pressing the Tigers just as they had been pressed earlier in the game. They started to get longer and much more comfortable spells of possession.

Kouhyar would yet again do some brilliant solo work down the right-wing, with some of his movement in the first 45 minutes seeming genuinely impossible to defend.

His cross was bundled behind for another corner, which York were once again unable to utilise properly.

Shortly after the half-hour mark, City looked to find Lenell John-Lewis with a long ball.

Gloucester keeper Harvey Wiles-Richards retreated towards his goal as John-Lewis pressured his defender by chasing down the pass.

The York striker eventually got the better of his marker, Tom Harrison,  before being cut down with a tackle just outside the box.

The referee didn’t hesitate and Harrison was given his marching orders.

The resulting free-kick saw Scott Barrow unleash a strike at goal from a well worked routine, though his shot was low and easy for Wiles-Richards to claim.

City kept up their relentless attacking on the Gloucester goal, coming close again within mere moments of the sending off through John-Lewis.

The striker was unable to turn McLaughlin’s cross into a true strike, with the ball bouncing off his shin in what was a golden position to score.

The first-half maintained its quick pace until the whistle was blown, with York being on the front foot for much of it.

The Tigers were able to create a brilliant chance when, minutes before half-time, a cross found the head of an unmarked Matt Green.

The striker headed an effort towards goal at point blank range, being denied only by an excellent reflex save from Pete Jameson.

Particularly in the second half, any of Gloucester’s attacking moves that would prove threatening, seemed to come from throw-ins or dead ball situations.

Understandably, the Tigers slowed down significantly after going down to 10 men, but they seemed toothless in attack for much of the second half.

The Minstermen, though, aimed to maintain their intensity. Kouhyar was once again at the centre of an attacking move, firing a cross into the box that was agonisingly close to the head of John-Lewis, but just a bit too high for the striker to get a connection.

A lot of the second half was York consistently trying and failing to break down the Gloucester defence, who sat back increasingly as the half went on.

The deadlock was broken when, in the 80th minute, super-sub Michael Woods poked the ball home after a brief moment of madness in the box.

York seemed as though they would be more than happy to sit on their goal to earn the crucial three points.

In the final minute of the game, though, the referee ruled that a York City player handled the ball in the box. Much of the LNER Community Stadium were stunned into silence as he pointed to the spot.

Gloucester captain Dawson made no mistake with the penalty and equalised for his team.

The Minstermen had two golden chances through Clayton Donaldson and John-Lewis after the penalty was scored, but neither striker was able to turn their effort on target.

The draw means that York City remain eighth on goal difference, level on points with seventh-placed Kettering Town and still with a game in hand on all of the teams above them.

 

York: Jameson, 5, Sanders, 6,  Kouogun, 5,  Brown (C), 6,  Barrow, 6, Wright, 5, McLaughlin (Dyson 63’), 5, Hancox (Woods 75’), 5, Kouhyar, 7, John-Lewis, 5, Willoughby (Donaldson 63’)), 5

 

Unused Subs: Campbell, McKay

 

Yellow cards: Brown (41’)

 

Gloucester: Wiles-Richards, James, Harrison, Thompson (Robert 90’), Dawson (C), Hulbert, Green (Mensah 90’), O’Sullivan, Martinez, Tomlinson (King 71’), Hall

 

Unused Subs: McClure, Armstrong

 

Red cards: Harrison (36’)

 

York’s star man: Maziar Kouhyar. Woods may have gotten the goal, but Kouhyar was creating for so much of the game. The attacker was influential once again, dancing as he continuously skipped past the Gloucester defence to create for his team.

 

Referee: James Bancroft

Attendance: 3,695 (75 Gloucester fans)

Yellow cards: 1 | 1

Shots: 12 (7) | 4 (2)

Fouls committed: 14 | 6 

Offsides: 2 | 1

Corners: 2 | 3

Red cards: 0 | 1