HALIFAX Town must really dislike York City in stoppage-time.
A disastrous start to York’s Yorkshire derby with Halifax brought the opportunity for more late carnage, with captain Callum Howe steering a header home in the tenth minute of stoppage-time for a 2-2 draw.
After a mistake from Harrison Male allowed Adam Senior to head home from the resulting corner in just the second minute of the match, York failed to show the needed response, as that deficit became two just one minute later.
Scott High was allowed too much room from a central position, with his effort from range smashing in off of the post.
City did get back into the contest when Ollie Pearce was hacked down in the area, with the striker then directing the shot home from 12-yards.
But some strong defending from the Shaymen kept the Minstermen out, who were reduced to ten men when Ashley Nathaniel-George was shown a straight red card in stoppage-time.
And with time running out, York managed to clinch a late point in the contest as captain Howe rose highest to direct Jeff King’s floated cross past an outstretched Sam Johnson.
It was almost deja vu for City too, after their escapades when winning 2-1 at Halifax back in October - thanks to two stoppage-time strikes.
Halifax had been looking to build on a good run of form lately, which had seen the Shaymen lose just two of their last 12 National League fixtures.
However, of those 12 fixtures, six had been victories, with Millington’s men seeing four draws in that time too.
They had only beaten a team by more than one goal on just three of those six victories, with Halifax breaking into the play-off positions thanks to their ability to grind out results.
It’s a quality that Hinshelwood had mentioned pre-match that he wanted his side to discover, especially after York’s 3-1 defeat to Barnet in midweek.
City were in need of a reaction after that defeat, which had seen the gap stretch to seven points from second to first in the National League.
With that in mind, Hinshelwood went attacking against Town, with three changes made to his starting 11.
A trio of Josh Stones, Lewis Richardson and Ryan Fallowfield, making his first league start since Altrincham away in November, were all brought in, replacing Dan Batty, Marvin Armstrong and Ashley Nathaniel-George.
Those changes meant York only lined up with one recognised central midfielder, meaning that Felix slotted in at midfield, and Fallowfield was allowed to play in his natural right-back position.
Hinshelwood had confirmed pre-match that Junior Luamba would not be a part of the squad as he looks to contain an illness bug which had worked its way into the York camp, after Batty and Jeff King had struggled with its ramifications on the double-header in London.
Halifax followed suit and also named three changes after their goalless draw against Rochdale, which included the return of a former City striker.
Luca Thomas was added to the 11 against his former club, with Florent Hoti and Tom Pugh also integrated into the squad.
A trio of Angelo Cappello, Max Wright and Zak Emmerson all dropped to the bench.
For all of Hinshelwood’s talk of wanting a response after the defeat to Barnet, he could not have had a worse start from his team.
Just one minute into the contest, a mis-placed pass from Male saw his stray pass trickle out for an early corner to the Shaymen, which was delivered deep.
It found Senior, who rose highest to power his header into the bottom right corner.
Some of the players’ heads might still have been in London after their weekend away, as just one minute later, that lead was doubled by Halifax.
A long-ranged effort from Pugh nestled into Male’s bottom left corner, having rattled the post on its way in.
It was a truly disastrous start to derby day for the Minstermen.
With 14 minutes played, York were slowly growing into the contest and finally found a route through a resolute Halifax defence, that had kept back-to-back clean sheets prior to this match.
Stones’ pass inwards found Pearce inside the area, and as he attempted to round his marker, he was hacked down, forcing the referee to point to the spot.
Pearce stepped up and made no mistake, hammering a powerful effort down the middle of the goal, halving the deficit in the process.
It would give City a newfound confidence in their quest to undo their horrific start, with Pearce sliding an inch-perfect through ball to Tyrese Sinclair, who had his one-on-one with Johnson kept out by the Shaymen shot-stopper.
Alex Hunt had a free-kick blocked, before the game was brought to an abrupt halt as Fallowfield fell to the ground – with Halifax players rushing to the referee to alert him of the injury.
Fallowfield was on the floor for nine minutes before being stretchered off, with both sets of supporters rising to applaud the efforts of the medical staff.
The delay in the restart meant that 11 minutes were added on at the end of the first-half, and it almost proved fruitful for York, as Howe met a teasing corner from Hunt, but was thwarted by Johnson with an impressive save.
York had chances to rectify their early mishap when Pearce flicked a pass into Sinclair, whose strike was expertly kept out by Johnson – who then denied Pearce on the rebound.
Action was rare in a second-half that didn’t bring many chances for either side, and it was almost summed up as substitute Nathaniel-George recklessly dived into a challenge on High, forcing the referee to show the winger a straight red card.
The Minstermen were down to ten men, looked tired and were trudging their way to a second straight defeat in the National League.
But with ten minutes of stoppage-time played in the second-half, captain Howe surged forward from defence and met a recycled delivery into the box from King – with Howe powering his header beyond Johnson.
Best Goals from the Vanarama National League Match Day 34
YORK CITY: MALE 5, FALLOWFIELD 7 (KING 7, 40), FAGAN-WALCOTT 6, HOWE 8, JOHN 7, FELIX 6, HUNT 6 (BATTY 6, 71), SINCLAIR 6 (ARMSTRONG 5, 61), PEARCE 7, RICHARDSON 7 (JOHN-LEWIS 6, 76), STONES 7 (NATHANIEL-GEORGE 5, 61)
SUBS NOT USED: WATSON, AGUIAR
GOALS: PEARCE (15), HOWE (90+10)
YELLOW CARDS: BATTY (81), JOHN (90+2)
RED CARD: NATHANIEL-GEORGE (90+4)
FC HALIFAX TOWN: JOHNSON, ADETORO, SENIOR, SMITH (ARTHUR, 85), EVANS, GALVIN, HOTI (WRIGHT, 61), PUGH (CAPPELLO, 61), HIGH, COOKE (BRAY, 85), THOMAS (EMMERSON, 69)
SUBS NOT USED: FORD, JENKINS
GOALS: SENIOR (2), PUGH (3)
YELLOW CARDS: GALVIN (23), THOMAS (45+4), COOKE (45+9)
YORK’S STAR MAN: CALLUM HOWE. A captain worthy performance, as the defender grasped a late point and defended heroically throughout.
REFEREE: SCOTT SIMPSON
ATTENDANCE: 6,926 (864)
SHOTS (ON TARGET): 11 (8) | 7 (4)
CORNERS: 7 | 2
FOULS: 12 | 19
OFFSIDES: 1 | 1
