YORK City produced a statement result to the rest of the Enterprise National League with a 4-1 victory over fellow promotion-chasers Rochdale.
It was the National League’s best attack versus the National League’s best defence at the LNER Community Stadium, with York coming out on top to register their second win against Rochdale in a month.
A cagey first-half had exploded into life when Ollie Pearce continued his excellent run of form, meeting Mark Kitching’s front post delivery to head beyond Oliver Whatmuff.
That lead would be short-lived, with Rochdale drawing level just four minutes later as Tobi Adebayo-Rowling powered a strike into Harrison Male’s top left corner.
The two teams headed into the half-time break level, but City would quickly assert themselves in a fantastic start to the second-half that showed the best version of Josh Stones.
He joined Pearce in maintaining his recent excellence in front of goal, first retrieving a lost ball in the Dale half, before cutting inside and firing past Whatmuff.
Stones soon added his second, breaking in from the left-wing before neatly tucking an effort into the Rochdale near post.
Having watched his strike partner register a brace, Pearce followed suit as Malachi Fagan-Walcott’s low cross was arrowed into the same corner that Stones had scored in for his own double.
It carries on an excellent run of form for City, with just one defeat in all competitions since October 1, which came at the hands of a Barnsley side two leagues above the Minstermen.
A 4-2 win at Eastleigh on Saturday continued that winning form, with the Minstermen now unbeaten in their last seven matches in the National League.
That may have contributed to Maynard’s thinking as the manager opted for an unchanged starting 11 from the City team that were victorious in Hampshire, albeit there were changes on the York bench.
As confirmed by first-team coach Gary Elphick in his pre-match press conference, Hiram Boateng, Greg Olley and Alex Newby were back in contention, and all started on the bench.
That saw Rory Watson, Mo Fadera and Eddie Kettlewell drop out of the squad, whilst the fixture against Rochdale had come too soon for Joe Grey.
Rochdale were no pushovers and had shown that from their season so far, occupying third position in the National League prior to kick-off, with three matches in hand on second-placed Boreham Wood and leaders Carlisle United.
With just two league defeats to their name all season, Jim McNulty’s team had been labelled as ‘the best team in the league at the moment’ by Elphick, with their last league loss also coming on October 1, the same date as City’s.
The Dale had been victorious against Boston United on Saturday with a 3-1 win, which had included a brace from striker Tyler Smith.
His impact had earned a start for Rochdale, alongside Kevin Berkoe, whilst Tarryn Allarakhia and Connor McBride both dropped to the bench.
The biggest test for City on the evening would arguably be whether they could breakdown the National League’s best defence, with the Dale conceding just eight goals all season prior to the contest.
But with York holding the best attacking record in the league, having netted 39 times, it was set to be a real chess match from the sidelines.
That was on show early on as both teams cancelled one another out largely in the first-half, although Rochdale went close early on as Devante Rodney’s early pass across the face of goal was just out of reach of Mani Dieseruvwe.
City grew into the game as it progressed and had their first sniff of goal with 23 minutes on the clock, as Ollie Banks sliced a volley wide.
Smith then looked to make an impact as he was sent in behind, but Harrison Male did brilliantly to divert his attempted lob away from goal.
With a cagey affair seeing both sides struggle to test the opposition goalkeeper, an action-packed final ten minutes of the half first swung in the Minstermen’s direction.
After a string of corners weren’t properly dealt with by the visitors, the ball was spread wide to Kitching, who rifled a cross towards the front post.
It was met by the head of Pearce, whose header beat Whatmuff with the help of his near post, before trickling over the line.
The lead was short-lived however, with Rochdale drawing level just four minutes later.
A crunching tackle saw the ball spin into a dangerous area, before it was fed into Adebayo-Rowling inside the box. He then arrowed a strike into Male’s top right corner, to the delight of the North Stand.
York hoped to restore their lead before the half-time whistle, with Ollie Banks stinging the gloves of Whatmuff, and Dan Batty hitting a volley over the crossbar.
But as City headed into the dressing room at one apiece, there was clearly one man sat in the changing rooms with a mission set out.
That man was Stones – who had a dream start to the second-half.
The busy striker first chased what looked to be a lost ball, but beat Sam Beckwith to the clearance and cut it back inside, onto his left.
Whatmuff then pressured Stones, but he showed brilliant composure to create space for himself, before smartly finishing into the bottom left corner.
Three minutes later, Stones and York were celebrating again as he made it 3-1.
Having received the ball on the left-wing, Stones broke inside before weaving around a Rochdale challenge, and spotting a gap at Whatmuff’s near post.
He coolly converted, with Stones now scoring five goals in his last four matches.
It’s the first time this league season that the Dale had conceded more than two goals in a league match, but York weren’t done as they hunted a fourth.
Joe Felix forced his manager to be left in disbelief after a saved Pearce strike bounced into the wing-back inside the box, but he could only slice wide from eight-yards out.
It was quickly forgotten by both sets of fans, as Pearce ensured that he would join Stones in grabbing a brace.
A clever lifted pass from Banks saw Fagan-Walcott enter the Rochdale final third, before the advanced centre-back cut the ball back into the middle of the box.
It dropped to an onrushing Pearce, who slid the ball into the bottom left corner to make it 4-1.
As the heavens begun to open up, City showed impressive game management to see the scores remain the same, whilst pushing for chances to create a fifth.
The win takes the Minstermen up the table and into fifth position, only one point behind their visitors on the evening.
Just three points now separates York and leaders Carlisle too, with the Minstermen unbeaten in their last seven in the league, and preparing for a match with Morecambe back at the LNER Community Stadium on Saturday (3.03pm).
YORK CITY: Male, Felix, Fagan-Walcott, Howe, Kitching (Fallowfield, 79), Brookes (Newby, 66), Hunt, Batty, Banks (Olley, 79), Stones (Boateng, 66), Pearce (Nathaniel-George, 84)
Subs not used: Sykes-Kenworthy, Hewitt
Goals: Pearce (35, 58), Stones (46, 49)
ROCHDALE: Whatmuff, Adebayo-Rowling, Gordon, Ebanks-Landell, Beckwith, Berkoe (Allarakhia, 59), East, Gilmour (Pettit, 59), Rodney (Barlow, 73), Dieseruvwe (Henderson, 73), Smith (McBride, 37)
Subs not used: Tutonda, Moss
Goals: Adebayo-Rowling (38)
Yellow cards: Berkoe (28), Pettit (80)
York’s Star Man: Josh Stones
Referee: Martin Woods
Attendance: 6,643 (722)
Half-time: 1-1
Shots (On Target): 15 (9) | 5 (5)
Corners: 5 | 1
Offsides: 3 | 0
Fouls: 5 | 4
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