Morecambe 1, York City 3

The Minstermen have been comfortably beaten in each of their last three visits to Christie Park but ran out impressive 3-1 winners yesterday courtesy of goals from Clayton Donaldson, Craig Farrell and Steve Bowey.

While the New Year is a time to herald change, however, it was business as usual for Billy McEwan's men in terms of away success this season.

City have now won eight of their 13 league outings on the road and this result, coinsidering the damage it also inflicted on their fellow play-off contenders, was probably the best of an impressive bunch.

The visitors lined up for the game in a 4-5-1 formation with Farrell and Donaldson manning the wings and Darryn Stamp playing as a lone target man.

An unwell Martyn Woolford was named on the bench while Anthony Lloyd, who must be getting dizzy as he switches from one flank to the other to cover for the suspension misdemeanours of full-backs Darren Craddock and Nathan Peat, started on the left.

Both Stamp and Lloyd responded well but, perhaps, the most significant performance came from Danny Parslow, who returned to the side after a long absence and ensured that the influential David McGurk, laid low by a virus, was barely missed.

Morecambe's strongest spells came in the first and last 15 minutes but, in between, the Minstermen dictated the tempo of the match and looked devastating on the counter-attacks.

Having scored direct from a corner in the FA Trophy clash between the two sides a fortnight earlier, Morecambe forced several early flag kicks and should have forged ahead in the first minute when Fraser McLachlan escaped his marker Bowey but fired wide from five yards after meeting a Michael Twiss cross.

Former Manchester United trainee Twiss then warmed Tom Evans' hands with a stinging 25-yard drive before the Minstermen gradually found their stride.

Stamp missed a great chance on 15 minutes when he headed wide at the far post after Neal Bishop had helped on an Anthony Lloyd free kick.

Bowey forced home keeper Steven Drench into his first save of the afternoon on 27 minutes from the edge of the box after Lloyd and Stamp had combined to set up the chance.

But City made the breakthrough on 45 minutes when Bishop fed Bowey, who drove forward before trying his luck with a long-range shot that Drench could not hold.

Donaldson then showed his predatory instinct to pounce on the loose ball and sidefoot into an unguarded goal.

The Minstermen could then have doubled their advantage going into the interval but home captain Jim Bentley executed an excellent covering tackle on Farrell.

But ex-Carlisle striker Farrell did not have to wait long to end his 11-match wait for a goal.

Skipper Manny Panther cut inside Shrimps left-back Michael Howard after a strong run down the right two minutes into the second half.

Farrell's first-time sidefooted finish from 15 yards then left Drench grasping at thin air.

On 61 minutes, Bowey netted his second goal of the season at the end of another flowing Minstermen move.

Farrell found Panther in an advanced position again and, after receiving the ball, Bowey produced some nimble footwork to leave home midfielder Garry Hunter on his backside before poking the ball wide of Drench from ten yards.

Ex-City striker David McNiven, to his credit, did not surrender having been introduced as a second-half substitue and Evans found his 76th-minute volley too hot to handle.

From the resulting corner, a typical Twiss inswinger was headed in at the near post by centre-back Chris Blackburn.

Evans then crucially saved shots from Twiss and McNiven in the following five minutes to thwart any hopes of a home comeback.

Match facts

Morecambe 1 (Blackburn 77)

York City 3 (Donaldson 45, Farrell 47, Bowey 61)

City ratings:

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

Evans 9

Craddock 8

Goodliffe 9

Parslow 8

Lloyd 8

Farrell 8

Bishop 8

Panther 8

Bowey 9 (McMahon 85m)

Donaldson 8

Stamp 8 (Woolford 90m)

Subs (not used): Reid, Grewood, Webster

Star man: Bowey - scored one, created another and was busy throughout.

Morecambe: Steven Drench, Adam Yates, Jim Bentley, Chris Blackburn, Michael Howard, Craig Stanley, Garry Hunter (Keiron Walmsley, 68), Fraser McLachlan (Ged Brannan, 68), Michael Twiss, Wayne Curtis, Adriano Rigoglioso (David McNiven, 49). Subs not used: Ryan Robinson, Paul Lloyd.

Bookings: McLachlan 44, Twiss 65.

Sent off: None

Referee: David Richardson (Halifax) Rating: sensible and made few errors.

Attendance: 2,203

Weather watch: Chilly, but dry.

Game breaker: Bowey's third goal put game beyond the home team.

Match rating: Excellent passing performance from City capped with some clinical finishing. The normally-impressive hosts were made to look a very distant second best Billy's verdict: "Billy verdict: We could have won by five or six but when we got the third goal we eased off a bit and let them back in when we were in total control."

Player watch: Danny Parslow

Goal attempts on target: 0.

Goal attempts off target: 0.

Blocked goal attempts: 0.

Passes to own player: 12.

Passes to opposition: 4.

Crosses to own player: 0.

Crosses to opposition: 0.

Pass success rate: 75 per cent.

Dribbles ball retained: 0.

Dribbles ball lost: 0.

Headers: 11.

Tackles: 2.

Clearances, blocks and interceptions: 12.

Free-kicks won: 1.

Free-kicks conceded: 2.

Offsides: 0.

Bookings: 0.

Final summary: Danny Parslow made a very strong return to the starting line-up. He was reliable throughout with his 12 clearances, blocks and interceptions illustrating his no-nonsense approach to defending. The Welshman's distribtuion was also safe and only conceded one foul in his own half.