York City 1, Barrow 1

Whether Colin Walker had the fleet-footed striker at the forefront of his mind when bemoaning York City’s quality in the final third after this 1-1 draw with Barrow, it’s not a matter of conjecture that Sodje was involved in the game’s pivotal moment.

Opportunities have been strictly limited for the 20-year-old so far this season but, when he gave Steve McNulty the slip and rounded goalkeeper Tim Deasy, he had the chance to indelibly etch his name into the Minstermen manager’s plans after 63 minutes.

But after having done all the hard work, Sodje shot agonisingly wide of the left-hand post and City never got as close to winning this match again.

It was York’s third straight stalemate in Blue Square Premier and, while Walker can be proud his team are still unbeaten, he will be disappointed City could not covert a glut of chances against a Cumbrian outfit who were decidedly average in defence.

Goalkeeper Josh Mimms made way for the fit-again Michael Ingham, skipper Mark Greaves returned to the line-up and Simon Russell made his full debut.

And having gone behind in their last two games, City got off to the best possible start thanks to a cultured finish from Richard Brodie after just three minutes.

Mark Robinson’s long throw saw Craig Farrell and McNulty tussle and it was the City forward who came off best against the burly Barrow centre-back.

He released Brodie down the left and the tall front-man controlled the ball with a little turn before driving into the box and smashing the ball past Deasy into the bottom right-hand corner.

It was a perfect start, and it could have got even better five minutes later.

This time Russell found Brodie with a ball down the left channel and, having got to the by-line, he teed up Farrell, who was denied only by a flailing tackle from McNulty.

Unfortunately, City’s superiority didn’t last long.

Barrow’s Jason Walker chased down a ball down the right touchline after ten minutes and fed Andrew Bond, whose clipped cross found Lee Hunt all on his own in the Minstermen box. He headed across Ingham into the net.

But if Ingham was a little stranded for that, he produced a magnificent save to deny Walker on 17 minutes.

The Barrow striker’s spectacular overhead kick looked goal-bound but Ingham showed why he has picked up Northern Ireland caps – sprawling to his left to keep out the acrobatic effort.

At the other end, Brodie was causing havoc but Deasy was proving to be Ingham’s match.

Farrell’s downward header on the half-hour, following Brodie’s superb centre, had the City fans celebrating until Deasy flew across to his left to palm it away.

And the Minstermen could have felt further aggrieved they weren’t in front at the break when Brodie once more stung Deasy’s hands with a powerful shot on 43 minutes.

Barrow then had a penalty appeal waved away when Carlos Logan went down in the box and City boss Walker, who later saw Farrell felled in the area, would later admit he thought both were spot-kicks.

York started the brighter again in the second period and it needed a great tackle from Jones to deny Brodie but Barrow should have gone in front on 55 minutes when Walker pushed the ball wide of the left-hand post after a melée in City’s box.

Brodie’s one-man sparring session with Barrow continued when he curled a shot from 16 yards straight into Deasy’s hands.

Then came Sodje’s time to miss his golden chance.

The pattern of the match subsequently changed and Barrow began to enjoy the better possession and the better chances.

If Ingham had produced an impressive first-half save, his second – getting down low to keep out Matt Henney’s back-header across his right-hand post on 67 minutes was equally as good.

And while City were now content with directing all their traffic towards Greaves, Jason Walker and substitute Nick Rogan were having an increasing influence on affairs.

Ingham was rooted to the spot with five minutes remaining when Boyd swept a shot over the bar from 25 yards and York could have lost it in stoppage-time when Rogan twice had the chance to trouble City’s goalkeeper but flashed over.

Match facts

York City 1 (Brodie 3), Barrow 1 (Hunt 10)

City: Michael Ingham 8, Ben Purkiss 6, Danny Parslow 6, David McGurk 6, Mark Robinson 6, Craig Farrell 7, Mark Greaves 7, Simon Rusk 7, Simon Russell 6, Richard Brodie 9, Niall Henderson 6.

Substitutions: Onome Sodje for Henderson (61), Ben Wilkinson for Russell (61), Liam Shepherd for Farrell (76).

Subs not used: Josh Mimms, Darren Kelly.

Key: 10 – Faultless; 9 – Outstanding; 8 – Excellent; 7 – Good; 6 – Average; 5 – Below par; 4 – Poor; 3 – Dud; 2 – Hopeless; 1 – Retire

City’s star man: Brodie – a super display from the Geordie striker. Scored a great goal and a constant threat to Barrow’s burly back four.

Barrow: Tim Deasy, Paul Jones, Steve McNulty, Matt Henney, Andrew Bond, Mark Boyd, Jason Walker, Lee Hunt (Nick Rogan 65), Ashley Winn, Carlos Logan, Paul Black.

Subs not used: Paul Brown, Darren Sheridan, Mike Pearson, Aaran Taylor.

Yellow cards: Jones 40, Winn 50.

Red cards: None.

Shots on target: York 7, Barrow 3.

Shots off target: York 5, Barrow 5.

Corners: York 5, Barrow 5.

Fouls conceded: York 10, Barrow 12.

Offsides: York 2, Barrow 4.

Referee: Scott Duncan (Newcastle). Rating: Probably should have awarded a penalty to both sides.

Attendance: 2,664.

Save of the match: Actually there were two. Michael Ingham performed wonders to keep out Walker’s overhead kick and Henney’s back header.

City player watch: Simon Russell

Shots on target: 0

Shots off target: 1

Passes to own player: 15

Passes to opposition: 3

Success rate: 83 per cent

Crosses to own player: 0

Crosses to opposition: 0

Dribbles, ball retained: 2

Dribbles, ball lost: 3

Dribble success rate: 40 per cent

Free-kicks won: 0

Free-kicks lost: 0

Headers: 6

Tackles: 1

Clearances, blocks and interceptions: 3

Offsides: 0

Bookings: 0

Final summary: A quiet game for City’s new signing on his home debut. Relatively tidy in possession, as showed by his pass success rate, and Colin Walker’s assertion that the winger is a different player to Martyn Woolford is shown in few dribbles.

Didn’t get into too many threatening positions and will clearly learn more about City’s style of play on the training ground. Made way for Ben Wilkinson after an hour.