STUART Maynard called for his entire squad to stay vigilant after his substitutions made a huge impact in York City’s 3-2 win over Braintree Town.
A disastrous start to both the first and second-half for York saw City concede a goal in each of the opening four minutes, meaning Maynard’s side were behind for the first time in his tenure.
The challenge therefore fell on the boss to figure out a way to break down a Braintree side that held a 2-0 advantage, with Maynard turning to his bench.
He introduced Greg Olley, Dan Batty and Joe Grey before the 70th minute after Alex Hunt had halved the deficit to 2-1, which proved beneficial to the manager, with all of his substitutions contributing in their own way.
Grey went on to score the second goal, which was the equaliser, to draw City level when heading home Joe Felix’s cross.
Dan Batty impressed in midfield and helped York get a grip on the ball, whilst Greg Olley showed glimpses of promise when making his first appearance in 13 months.
Maynard wants the substitutes to act as an example of what is expected, reiterating that they will ‘need everyone’ as the fixture list begins to pile up.
“The players outside the squad as well, we’ve got a squad that is very competitive,” Maynard enthused.
“You’re seeing that, and we’re going to need everyone.
“Every day in training we need them to be pushing each other, because if they don’t, then the standards drop and we probably lose a game like this.
“The standards are set really high and that comes from the group, not just us as the management team.
“You need players that are prepared to set the standard as a group on the training ground, and they’ve been absolutely unbelievable since we’ve come through the door.”
Of his three substitutions, Olley’s introduction provided the loudest cheer from the away contingency as the midfielder picked up his first minutes in a York shirt.
Olley has had a long road to recovery after breaking his leg in August 2024 whilst at Gateshead, but showed promise when playing in an attacking midfield role – even coming close to a goal.
Maynard was delighted to welcome Olley back, and credited the midfielder for breaking through the Braintree barrier that provided opportunities to a City side hunting for a goal.
The City boss continued: “He’s just so smart. He picks up, we said to him that we needed someone because when you’re playing a team that is man to man, we needed someone to come to the front or for one of our pocket players to come so deep that it sucks them out.
“He just knows the timing, he’s played in the system before.
“We said to him before he came on, make sure you drift as you do and what it has done has got people further up the pitch and into better positions.
“When he gets it on the half turn, he picks the right passes.
“I thought he was brilliant, and to come on in a game of that intensity and to perform how he did for how long he has been out, we’ve just got to wrap him up in cotton wool now and make sure he’s okay for next week.”
Despite City having the momentum when drawing the score to 2-2, it wasn’t an easy ride for the management team who had to rely on some aspects of luck to find the winner.
A stoppage-time handball handed York a penalty, which Ollie Pearce disposed of, lashing a strike into the bottom left corner.
Maynard admitted that he could ‘feel a goal coming’, but felt the nerves when a late chance for Malachi Fagan-Walcott agonisingly deflected over the crossbar.
“You could feel a goal was coming,” Maynard confessed.
“The only thing I will say was then when Malachi came inside and hits it, and it deflects underneath his leg and goes over the bar, you’re thinking it’s not going to be your day.
“It is, we kept going all the way to the end and we said to the group that we have to make sure we lock in on teams.
“That’s what it is, it’s attack after attack and teams can’t compete with it.”
