YORK City manager Neal Ardley discussed whether his side deserved to get something out of the 1-1 draw with FC Halifax Town, before heaping praise on debutants George Sykes-Kenworthy and Olly Green.

Sykes-Kenworthy and Green both joined the club in midweek to help reinforce Ardley’s squad, and were both named in the starting eleven for York’s Vanarama National League clash with Halifax at the LNER Community Stadium.

Ardley was pleased with the effect the pair had, and felt content with today’s performance after Paddy McLaughlin netted a stoppage-time equaliser to earn a point.

“I think it was a tough game for Olly, he did great but I knew Halifax were going to snuff out that midfield which is why we played too slow for them.

“It’s a tough one for Olly, but I thought he did great and just got tired in the last 15 minutes.

“I thought George was excellent, really calming, comes for crosses early on and looked like nothing was going to beat him.

“It’s hard, it depends how you quantify deserved. Did we open them up and create loads of chances? Did we deserve it for effort and work load? Yes, I thought we kept going.

“We stayed in the game, kept driving forward, and in the end we put two up front alongside Lenny to counter their three at the back, then we threw Callum Howe up and went on to score, Callum’s got a touch on it, Lenny’s gone through and that’s where the goal has come from.

“We made the run forward and gambled, we kept going to get the goal.

“Halifax are really good without the ball, they’ve got the best defensive record in the league.

“They have a good structure and if you’re slow with the ball, then Halifax are going to be comfortable.

“It’s what we worked on during the week, doing the work to get in behind their wing-backs with runs and penetration, and we didn’t play with enough.

“I didn’t think we created a lot, they had a few moments but I think we were alright behind the ball.

“In the second half, we’ve made a habit of this, we’ve come out within five minutes and conceded.

“Their goal was an absolutely worldie, but we have to get tighter and stop the shot in the first half. It was going to be something like that to beat George, because he was so comfortable.

“There’s lots of positives, the work rate was there, but we’ve still got to improve our decision-making.”

Ardley also took time to laud the York supporters for their backing in the 1-1 draw, describing the fans as ‘unbelievable’.

“Our fans again today were unbelievable.

“I’ve worked at clubs where when the going gets tough and thinks are going against you and you’re not playing well, they get right on your back and it affects the lads.

“They kept driving us in every little thing we did, and because of that, we ended up getting ourselves in a position to send them home half-happy.”