FEW football clubs can have been more true to their nickname than Weymouth over the last two seasons - well, at least, in a phonetical sense.

The Terras have struck fear into the hearts of countless visiting teams during a run of just one league defeat in 33 home matches over the last 21 months.

But, on Saturday, the Wessex Stadium was less a fortress and more a playground for York City to express their attractive brand of quick, one-touch football as Billy McEwan's men became the first Conference team to taste victory at the south coast setting this season.

A home fan, who had obviously attended his team's first round FA Cup match the previous weekend, was heard to mutter "They are better than Bury" just 15 minutes into this clash of play-off contenders as City, who were also marginally better than League One high-flyers Bristol City seven days earlier without getting their just desserts, started in a busy and confident manner.

Midfielder Emmanuel Panther's belated first Minstermen strike and Jason Goodliffe's header either side of a Wayne Purser effort saw the KitKat Crescent club continue their remarkable run of victories by a single-goal margin, extending the sequence to 11 from 11 wins this season.

But, once again, City should have inflicted a heavier defeat on their overwhelmed hosts with David McGurk, Steve Bowey and Craig Farrell guilty of spurning the easiest chances.

Panther drove wide from 20 yards after just two minutes and Martyn Woolford also went close twice within the first quarter of an hour but City keeper Tom Evans was required to make a smart near-post save to keep out a Purser shot on 23 minutes.

Moments later, Weymouth were lucky not to concede a penalty as Woolford wove his way through three defenders in the box but appeared to be impeded at least once.

Woolford and City were just as positive after the break with the former Frickley winger dragging a shot across the face of goal.

Farrell and Woolford then exchanged passes before the former fired narrowly wide from 25 yards.

But, on the hour mark, the Minstermen took a deserved lead.Neal Bishop released Clayton Donaldson with an intelligent first-time pass from inside his own half. Donaldson raced clear and, after his shot was saved by home keeper Jason Matthews, Panther seized on the loose ball.

The Minstermen captain, who had kept pace with Donaldson, then completed the formality of gleefully finding an empty net, ending a 54-game wait to score his first goal for the club.

Panther, clearly buoyed, lifted another effort over the bar from 20 yards two minutes later and City then missed two glorious chances in as many minutes.

First, McGurk cleared the crossbar with a sidefooted volley from five yards then Bowey was even more wasteful, lifting a shot over the bar with only Matthews to beat.

Those misses looked costly when Weymouth levelled on 71 minutes. Abdou El Kholti threaded a through ball inside City right-back Darren Craddock far too easily and Purser lifted his shot cooly over the advancing Evans.

Home manager Garry Hill then signalled his intentions by withdrawing striker Purser and reverting to a 4-5-1 formation on 80 minutes.

But, just seconds later, Goodliffe, who won every header he contested, rose to meet a Woolford corner at the far post and found the net despite the efforts of Steve Tully to clear off the line.

Farrell missed another opportunity to ease the visitors' nerves, skying over from four yards after Nathan Peat had charged into the penalty box and pulled the ball back from the goalline.

McGurk was then cautioned for a challenge on Lee Elam but, on this occasion, the former Darlington defender's indiscretion might have been merited with the Weymouth winger preparing to burst through on Evans' goal.

The resulting free-kick was blasted into the wall by Simon Weatherstone and Weymouth were experiencing the rare taste of defeat three minutes of injury time later.

Match facts

Weymouth 1 (Purser 71), York City 2 (Panther 60, Goodliffe 81)Evans 7, Craddock 7, Goodliffe 9, McGurk 7, Peat 8, Bishop 8, Bowey 7, Panther 7, Woolford 8, Donaldson 7 (McMahon 87), Farrell 7.

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

Subs (not used): Stamp, Foster, Lloyd, Reid.

Star man: Jason Goodliffe - pretty much faultless all afternoon.

Weymouth: Jason Matthews, Steve Tully, Roy O'Brien, Ashley Vickers (Tony James, 69), Abdou El Kholti, Shaun Wilkinson (Trevor Challis, 46), Ben Smith, Simon Weatherstone, Lee Elam, Richard Logan, Wayne Purser (Jason Tindall, 80). Subs not used: Arran Lee-Barratt, Raphael Nade.

Bookings: Vickers 35, Peat 44, Challis 64, McGurk 89.

Sent off: None.

Referee: James Linington (Isle of Wight). Rating: couple of oversights but generally very good.

Attendance: 1,774 Weather watch: Bright but chilly.

Game breaker: Panther goal gave City the belief that they could win the game even after Weymouth equalised.

Match rating: Very encouraging performance from the visitors, who carried on where they left off against Bristol City.

Billy's verdict: It's a good three points even if we could have had two or three more goals.

Player watch - Neal Bishop

Goal attempts on target: 0
Goal attempts off target: 0
Blocked goal attempts: 0
Passes to own player: 13
Passess to opposition: 10
Crosses to own player: 1
Crosses to opposition: 1
Pass success rate: 56 per cent
Dribbles ball retained: 4
Dribbles ball lost: 3
Dribble success rate: 57.1 per cent
Headers: 10
Tackles: 9
Clearances, blocks and interceptions: 3
Free kicks won: 3
Free kicks conceded: 3
Offsides: 0
Bookings: 0
Final summary: Asked to play an inside-right role, Bishop did an unselfish job and helped set the tempo of the game right from the start. Keen in the tackle as ever, he also showed strength to go past his marker on several occasions.