YORK CITY manager David Webb has heaped praise on goalkeeper Ethan Ross for his performance, after the goalkeeper aided City’s penalty shootout victory over Chelmsford City.

The Minstermen were held to a 1-1 draw with Chelmsford in the Isuzu FA Trophy, but the heroics of Ross meant Webb’s side were victorious in the penalty shootout, winning 5-4.

Ross was a stand-in captain on Saturday after Lenell John-Lewis was comfirmed to be absent with a groin injury, and made a crucial save in the dying minutes to deny Liam Trotter from gifting Chelmsford a late lead.

“Ethan was colossus for us today, we made him skipper.” Praised Webb.

“It was a real big honour for him he said before the game, and he embraced it and he carried it onto the pitch today. He was a trojan for us.

“Ethan’s a real leader in the dressing room, he’s a strong character, he’s positive around the lads, he’s a real good trainer and I knew he’d embrace it as well today. And he delivered for us when we needed him. 

“It was a big, big thing for him (being captain) and we just spoke back in there (the changing rooms) and he gave us a big cuddle! He said it’s a real honour for him and it’s the first time he’s ever been captain in his career. So he was delighted about that and was great for us today.

Despite York’s advancement, Webb wasn’t satisfied with the performance or the need for a penalty shootout: “At times we did make it hard for ourselves. We knew Chelmsford were going to come to play, we knew that for them it was a big game and that they are going well in their league respectively. 

“I felt we had enough chances to win the game in normal time, we missed a few chances but we’re through and that’s the main thing I guess for the next round. 

City did prove to have a perfect record in the shootout however, with Olly Dyson, Nathan Thomas, Mitch Hancox, Dan Pybus and Alex Hurst scoring their penalties.

“No one’s shied away from it, we just felt that these were going to be our strongest ones.” Webb explained with the order of takers. 

“We could’ve added more because we’ve got some quite strong dead ball takers in those situations, but they delivered for us so well done. If I’m honest. We didn’t practise them, I think we felt in some sense that we had enough to go through from open play.”