By Riley Nichol
In what ended up a blockbuster matchup in the English FA cup, York City kicked off their November with an exciting away day to League One side Barnsley FC. Excitement was growing for this tie throughout York ever since the teams were pulled out of the hat; a short trip, low ticket prices and the Saturday afternoon kickoff made this fixture enticing for nearly 3,000 devoted city fans, who made the journey to the Oakwell stadium. With the away end bursting at the seams and a real belief amongst the York faithful, Maynard’s men looked to repay the fanbase with an inspiring performance, and that they did…
Whilst the game ended in a narrow 3-2 win for Barnsley, the Minstermen put on a show unlikely to be forgotten in the near future by anyone in attendance. The first half was – to put it plainly – exceptional. City came out and stamped their foot on the game early, establishing a well-deserved lead in the 23rd minute, courtesy of Josh Stones with a looping header to the back post. Stones asked Barnsley’s back-line all kinds of questions, very few of which they had an answer for in that first 45; when the ball found him, he shrugged off defenders and held it up excellently, giving his team an outlet and offering a means to get themselves up the pitch and into the opposition half. City were retaining possession brilliantly for the most part, but after a few threatening counterattacks from Barnsley, Davis Keillor-Dunn found himself unmarked in front of goal, picking out the bottom corner following some poor defending by York. Overall, the first half was a positive one for York despite the 1-1 scoreline, as City went in at the break unlucky not to be in front.
The second half was looking very positive, with York creating several chances but just lacking that finish. A key moment of the game, which later proved costly, fell to summer signing Ollie Banks following great play, once again by Josh Stones, who slipped a perfectly weighted ball to unlock Barnsley’s defence, leaving Banks one-on-one with only the keeper to beat, however, the finish left a lot to be desired as it was blasted straight at the keeper. This chance led to a flurry of opportunities and sustained pressure from City in the subsequent minutes, but the away end’s excitement was snubbed with a dagger goal, yet again from Keillor-Dunn against the run of play. This left the Minstermen 2-1 down with just 13 minutes to play, but after the performance so far, there was still a buzz of belief around the ground from the York faithful.
To kick off a Hollywood ending, City dug deep to find the equaliser in the 87th minute, sending the away end into a complete state of jubilation, from the summer-signed defender Mark Kitching blasting a half-volley into the roof of the net following a superb double save from Barnsley keeper Murphy Cooper (formerly Murphy Mahoney). Whilst the York fans celebrated the moment passionately, just 3 minutes later (in the 90th minute), Barnsley’s veteran defender Marc Roberts landed a killer blow, nestling a header straight into the back of York City’s net from a corner, to make it 3-2 to the home side.
This goal marked the end of City’s chances this year in the FA cup, but there is certainly a lot to be proud of after such a toe-to-toe display against a League One side, establishing overall dominance in the game at points, and managing to score two goals; on another day, more than enough to win the game. The City fans responded well to the away trip and left the Oakwell Stadium impressed with the effort on display from the lads, and in particular the standout performance from Josh Stones. Both the team and fanbase that showed up on the day felt deserving of a place in the football league, hopefully providing a peek into the future about what this season might offer for the Minstermen…
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