On a swelteringly hot Saturday afternoon, York City set out in pursuit of their first win of the season against a resilient Boreham Wood side. On his managerial debut, Neal Ardley elected to make three changes to the XI that lost out to Ebbsfleet a week ago, the biggest talking point of those being the inclusion of former Rangers winger Kai Kennedy.
Unfazed by the Minstermen’s poor start to the season, just shy of 4000 fans made their may into the LNER Community Stadium where temperatures soared over 30 degrees for much of the afternoon.
That support gave City all the encouragement they needed to come flying out the blocks, completely dominating the opening 30 minutes. It took less than ten for their first sight of goal — when Ryan Fallowfield drove deep into Boreham Wood territory and launched a cross towards the backpost where Quevin Castro, another surprise starter, was left unmarked but couldn’t quite find the right finish — allowing Ashmore in the Boreham Wood goal to make a fantastic double save. It wouldn’t take long for that dominance to translate into a goal. Just ten minutes later, an almost identical move allowed Dipo Akinyemi to make it 1-0. The move began and finished with the star signing, as his excellent hold up play brought Kennedy into the game, who in turn unlocked Fallowfield down the right hand side. City’s captain bombed forward once more and cut back to a grateful Akinyemi, who took a delicate touch before calmly poking the ball past Ashmore.
The goal should be a real marker of encouragement for York City. It demonstrates that the club’s new signings are starting to properly gel. In this instance, two high profile signings interchanged with the club captain to put City on top. Secondly, the persistent success of Fallowfield down the right was due to an insightful tactical plan from Ardley, by instructing Olly Dyson to step into right-back when city where in possession, he created the freedom for Fallowfield to bomb forward. In just two training sessions the new manager has unlocked a devastating tactic.
This pattern of York dominance would not last, even if City did make it to half-time with their lead intact. In truth it seemed only a matter of minutes until Boreham Wood earned their equaliser. They continued to knock on the door and could have been awarded a penalty in the 39th minute as Tyrone Marsh was brought down by Fallowfield. This was quickly followed by a goalkeeping error from Ryan Whitley, he almost fumbled an ambitious long range effort into his own net, only able to watch hopefully as it spiralled up and landed on the roof of his net. The exchange prompted one of the City faithful to politely instruct their goalkeeper to ‘get a grip’ at the very top of his lungs — summing up the mood of a hot and bothered fan base.
There would be no rest for the suffering York backline any time soon — an astonishing 14 minutes of stoppage time would follow. This was mainly due to a ridiculous situation regarding the linesman. After referee Michael Barlow initially added on eight, the stadium was left at a standstill when the linesman abandoned the pitch in search of a missing contact lens. When play did eventually resume, Boreham Wood cleverly capitalised on the chaos and almost caught City napping. Only the vital intervention of Tyler Cordner, who completed a brilliant goal line clearance, prevented the now seemingly inevitable equaliser.
City’s luck would soon run out, in the 56th minute Lee Ndlovu struck home from a tight angle to level the scores. From then on, Boreham Wood continued to mount pressure as Ndlovu, Marsh and Abraham tested the City defence with their tireless running.
The Minstermen were not completely out if it at this point, managing to restore their lead a few minutes later. A driving run from Maziar Kouhyar expertly opened the door for Quevin Castro, who finished with aplomb. Again City could not maintain any lasting control, conceding almost immediately, as the ever dangerous Ndlovu danced through the City defence unchallenged, before firing past Whitley.
After that flurry, the game played out to a reasonably calm conclusion, save for a couple of brilliant stops from Ashmore as Olly Dyson and Callum Howe struck similar volleyed efforts towards his goal. Ultimately neither side were able to break the other down, with Ardley’s debut ending in a stalemate, leaving the Minstermen still winless in eight.
Despite the adverse weather conditions and a resilient Boreham Wood opponent, Ardley may go on to regret failing to let that early dominance tell — to be pegged back twice in the second half will leave a bitter taste in the mouth, and a real sense that this exciting draw was closer to two points dropped.
While it may be early in the season, with so much football still to be played. City fans will have left the LNER Community Stadium on this scorching afternoon with the chilling sense that unless results improve quickly, a serious relegation battle may well already be on their hands.
For regular updates about York City throughout the season head to www.yorkcityfootballclub.co.uk.
Add a comment