YORK City fell to a 2-1 defeat away at Aldershot Town, after going down to 10 men late in the first half.

Tyler Cordner’s header from a corner, just six minutes in, was enough to give Aldershot the initial lead.

After a slow start, York did well to grow into the game, creating a couple of half-chances through Lenell John-Lewis.

Their momentum was interrupted, however, when Alex Hurst was dismissed for a lunging tackle on Frank Vincent just minutes before the break.

With 10 men, City came out strong in the second and found their equaliser on the hour mark, when John-Lewis bundled the ball beyond Luca Ashby-Hammond from a Maziar Kouhyar cross.

It was the striker's seventh goal of the season, though he is yet to score for the Minstermen at the LNER Community Stadium this term.

Town, however, maintained their attacking resolve and a sensational run and finish from Tommy Willard saw them score their second goal of the game to secure the three points. 

York manager John Askey was given a chance to rotate his team last time out, when City beat Bury AFC 2-1 in the Emirates FA Cup fourth qualifying round.

With a return to league action came another set of changes. John-Lewis returned to the team, as did Kouhyar, in place of Manny Duku and Luke James respectively, the latter pair returning to the bench.

Dan Pybus started the game in place of Olly Dyson, who was absent from the squad through injury.

Named on the bench was defender Fraser Kerr, who featured in a match-day team for the first time since picking up an injury against FC Halifax Town earlier this month.

City did well in the opening stages of the match to advance forward, but they struggled to create much from the good positions they were in.

Aldershot, meanwhile, looked to create from long balls fired forward throughout much of the first half, aiming to catch York on the counter.

Through one such pass, Town earned a corner after Sam Sanders was forced to head the ball behind.

The cross into the box found Cordner who netted with relative ease, perhaps having wrong-footed City shot-stopper Ethan Ross.

Scoring seemed a challenge for the Minstermen in the first half. Hurst looked to provide the spark a couple of times for York by thundering forward from deep, but each time found himself dispossessed.

Aldershot rarely ranged forward before half-time, especially after securing a lead early in the game.

Regardless, Harry Panayiotou broke free on the right wing and looked for Inih Effiong in the box.

The Shots’ attacker unleashed a strike, but it deflected behind for a corner which, thankfully for City, came to nothing for the hosts.

York grew steadily into the match and their first real chance of the game came after almost 25 minutes had been played.

Kouhyar, who did well on the right to make space for himself, crossed a brilliant ball into the box. He aimed for John-Lewis, but the striker was denied by the slightest flick from a Town defender.

John-Lewis forged a great chance when, from a Hurst cross, he leapt for a header. The glancing effort, however, went wide of the far post.

City did well to grow into the game, particularly after what was a relatively poor start. In spite of that, they were fortunate to not find themselves two goals down.

Aldershot broke into the box and Effiong’s shot was denied only by a brilliant block from Sanders.

The rebound came out to the wing and a fantastic cross was delivered, but there was no-one in the box to reach it.

Hurst looked to break up the other end, but his cross was saved by Ashby-Hammond.

As York hoped to reap the rewards of the momentum they were gaining, Hurst took the ball into his stride on the wing, cutting in from the left.

One of his touches let him down and the ball got away from him. In an attempt to retrieve possession he lunged towards it, smashing into Vincent instead and being dismissed.

To open the second half, Aldershot were very close to doubling their advantage through Joe Partington, but his header was just wide.

York restored the deficit on the hour mark after a stunning run down the left wing from Kouhyar.

The winger played the ball into the box and John-Lewis managed to bundle it over the line in a goalmouth scramble to level the game.

City kept their pressure high after equalising, with Hancox nearly breaking through the Aldershot backline, being denied only by Archie Davies.

The hosts almost got their second through Giles Phillips, but were denied the lead when he missed from close range.

With just over 10 minutes remaining in the match, Willard broke away from Sanders on the right.

The attacker cut inside and thundered an effort beyond Ross to give his side the lead once more.

Ross succeeded in preventing a third for Aldershot when he denied Jordan Amalzour at close range.

Aldershot Town: Ashby-Hammond, Davies, Harfield, Partington (C) (Davis 64’), Cordner, Vincent, Effiong, Panayiotou (Amaluzor 64’), Phillips, Glover (Jordan 90’), Ward

Unused subs: Bettache, Alfa

Goals: Cordner (6’), Willard (78’)

York City: Ross, 5, Fallowfield, 5, Kouogun, 4, Sanders, 4, Whittle, 5, Pybus, 5, Hancox, 5 (James 82’), Mafuta, 4, Kouhyar, 6, John-Lewis (C), 6, Hurst, 4

Unused subs: Whitley, Kerr, Thomas, Duku

Goals: John-Lewis (60’)

Yellow cards: Sanders (54’), Hancox (80’)

Red cards: Hurst (39’)

York City’s star man: Maziar Kouhyar. Constantly looked to create against Aldershot and provided the assist for Lenell John-Lewis’ goal.

Attendance: 1,866 (286 away fans)

Referee: Ruebyn Ricardo

Stats for Aldershot v York:

Shots (on target): 10 (2) | 3 (1)

Corners: 7 | 5

Offsides: 0 | 1

Yellow cards: 0 | 2

Fouls committed: 7 | 7