Match report: York City 0, Wrexham 0

Sceptics may argue Saturday’s goalless home draw with Blue Square Bet leaders Wrexham represented two points lost, a chance gone amiss to make home advantage count and cut the gap on the Dragons.

But the manner in which the Minstermen exacted parity and did not cede any more ground on the table-toppers underpinned an unyielding resilience that can bode as well as any goal-fest for the rest of the campaign.

And the fact that for the second league meeting this season City kept not one, but two clean sheets, as well as extracting four points from a maximum six in the brace of league battles with the men from the principality, demonstrates to all the Blue Square Bet Premier that Gary Mills’ charges are a force to be reckoned with.

For on a day when their much-feted front-line failed to spark, the intensity was on full measure to guarantee Wrexham would not breach the Bootham Crescent rearguard.

Timely interceptions and blocks were channelled right across the back four, and whenever Wrexham jostled through, goalkeeper Michael Ingham was at his most dramatically alert.

Midfielder Andre Boucaud, when not caressing and cajoling the ball to team-mates in the bid to manufacture an opening, also conjured stern defensive duty when needed.

And then there was Scott Kerr. The midfielder’s relentless exertions could have fuelled a power station.

From minute one to 95 – five minutes were signalled on the electronic board – Kerr wriggled through challenges in search of a goal, snapped into tackles that would have felled a redwood tree, and tidied up at the back with the cool and anticipation of Italy’s most famed stopper, Franco Baresi.

In a bizarre first half, the more sustained pressure was City’s, their heartening brand of pass and move with Kerr, Boucaud and Paddy McLaughlin to the fore as the team returned to that of the previous league outing from the much-changed line-up, which exited the FA Cup seven days earlier at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground.

But once Ashley Chambers crashed to the deck under Mark Creighton’s challenge – England’s newest ‘C’-lion inexplicably cautioned for simulation by referee Peter Bankes when contact looked clear and there was no earthly reason to bite the turf as he was clean through on goal – Wrexham came the closest to scoring.

The Dragons broke with combustive speed through Adrian Cieslewicz and his cross was met by Jamie Tolley ten yards from goal. Ingham, heading towards his right, somehow thrust out a left hand to paw out the net-bound effort, Chris Smith hacking the ball away.

For all City’s pacey passing there was little penetration. Chambers ran right-back Curtis Obeng ragged, but virus-hit Matty Blair – soon subbed by Adriano Moké – and top-scorer Jason Walker were unusually subdued.

Wrexham goalkeeper Joslain Mayebi, in a shirt so day-glo it was a surprise City stewards did not threaten to eject him from the ground, was never extended before half-time.

Within eight minutes of the restart Mayebi was exercised three times by shots from Chambers, Walker and Jon Challinor, whose muscular raids down the right flank hinted at the hosts’ best way of fracturing Wrexham’s mean back-line.

Soon after that last attempt Ingham’s razor reflexes clawed away a point-blank header from player-manager Andy Morrell as the tightrope-taut tussle opened up.

There was a palpable sense that one goal would settle the clash and nerves jangled among both sets of supporters comprising Bootham Crescent’s biggest crowd of the season – indeed the largest since the play-off semi-final conquest of Luton Town in April 2010.

Boucaud’s outstretched leg thwarted substitute Danny Wright with an exquisite example of timing. Six inches the wrong way and Wrexham would have had a penalty, while a stinger from Moké, after he sashayed in from the right, was ushered into the Shippo by Mayebi.

There was still time for captain Smith to sweep away a cross close to the City goal-line while, with almost the last act and the home defence napping, Ingham reacted superbly to snatch a corner off Wright’s fringe.

So honours even in a nil-nil thriller, but it might yet be the point when City realised there is nothing – absolutely damn all – to fear between now and May.

Match facts

York City 0, Wrexham 0

York City: Michael Ingham 9, Jon Challinor 8, Chris Smith 8, Jamal Fyfield 8, James Meredith 8, Andre Boucaud 8, Scott Kerr 9, Paddy McLaughlin 7, Matty Blair 6, Jason Walker 6, Ashley Chambers 7.

Subs: Adriano Moké (for Blair 35) 7, Michael Potts (Boucaud 84).

Not used: David McGurk, Daniel Parslow, Jamie Reed.

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: Scott Kerr – total endeavour and enthusiasm to just shade goalkeeping ace Ingham.

Wrexham: Joslain Mayebi, Curtis Obeng, Mark Creighton, Nat Knight-Percival, Neil Ashton, Joe Clarke, Jamie Tolley (Lee Fowler 84), Jay Harris, Andy Morrell (Danny Wright 60), Mathias Pogba, Adrian Cieslewicz (Johnny Hunt 88). Subs not used: Chris Maxwell, Chris Westwood.

Booked: Chambers 67, Tolley 46, Wright 69.

Shots on target: City 4, Wrexham 4.

Shots off target: City 8, Wrexham 6.

Corners: City 8, Wrexham 7.

Offsides: City 4, Wrexham 1.

Fouls conceded: City 11, Wrexham 8.

Referee: Peter Bankes (Liverpool). Rating: Chambers’ caution apart, he was okay.

Attendance: 4,295 (615 away fans).

Moment of the match: Has to be Michael Ingham’s 17th-minute save to deny Jamie Tolley a certain goal. Such reflexes merit a return to the Northern Ireland number one spot.

Head to head - Ashley Chambers v Curtis Obeng

City’s newest call-up to the England ‘C’ team was always far too tricky for the Wrexham right-back.

He gave him a torrid time, particularly in the first half when Wrexham player-manager Andy Morrell finally convinced himself he might have to spend more time tracking back to protect the exposed defender.

However, Obeng was spared much further trouble during the bulk of the second half when Chambers swapped flanks with Adriano Moké.

Chambers twice zipped past Neil Ashton, but did not enjoy as much of the ball after the interval as City’s attacking momentum went awry.