By Riley Nichol
Stuart Maynard’s start to life at York City has now settled, as the new manager looks towards his ninth game in charge of the club away at Rochdale in the FA cup, but just how successful has he been in picking up the Minstermen and steadying results?
Since the last monthly York City Your Local Link update, Maynard’s men have picked up 10 points from a possible 18 in the last 6 league fixtures, including a standout performance against National League contenders Carlisle United and a troubling performance at home to high-flying Scunthorpe. This period for York has proved an interesting one, where the focus in the eyes of the York faithful has undoubtedly been to get a feel for the type of football to expect from Maynard, whilst continuing to pick up important points early in the season.
This six-game period began away at Braintree Town on the 13th September, where York secured three points in dramatic fashion, leaving it until the 93rd minute for none other than Ollie Pearce to score the winning penalty. City found themselves 2-0 down in the 47th minute, after a heavily uninspiring display left the side with plenty of work to do in the remainder of the game – and work they did! Alex Hunt placed his free kick in the top-left corner in the 54th minute to pull a goal back, followed by the long-awaited equaliser from Joe Grey, headed home in the 77th. The match came to its fiery conclusion as Ollie Pearce slotted his penalty into the bottom left corner, taking the three points back up north.
After this impressive comeback display, which rallied the fanbase positively, the form took a change in direction from steady to inconsistent. Just one week after the inspiring Braintree result, City slipped up with a heavily disappointing 1-0 defeat to Solihull Moors at home, a result nobody expected following such a resilient previous display. This felt like ‘one of those days’ for the Minstermen, with York dominating chances and possession across 90 minutes, just to concede an avoidable goal on the break in the dying seconds, stemming from a mixture of Solihull’s excellent defensive display combined with York’s lack of cutting edge. Whilst the result was a poor one, an abundance of positive takeaways for City fans ensured that positivity amongst the fanbase remained.
If there was any result to prove the inconsistency of York’s recent form, it’s this; just three days after the lacklustre result at home to Solihull, Carlisle fans arrived at the LNER stadium licking their lips, with many of their fans taking to social media to express their excitement for their trip to York. This optimism was soon put to rest by the Minstermen as they blitzed Carlisle’s back line, putting five goals past them in a huge fixture between two sides with promotion prospects this season.
The fixtures come thick and fast at this time of the season, and just four days later, City took a trip to title-challenging Forest Green and pulled off a respectable 1-1 draw. Whilst York had plenty of chances to go on and win the game, a point away at one of the league’s best sides is a positive result, with the Minstermen scuppering Forest Green’s chances of edging even further ahead.
The next thing you know, Maynard’s men trip up at the LNER stadium in a 3-1 defeat to Scunthorpe, and by this point, many City fans had given up on trying to predict the scorelines, since in this somewhat rocky patch, you truly didn’t know which York you’d be seeing on the day. Unlike the previous banana skin in the narrow defeat at home to Solihull, the match on October 1st was a performance that very few could be proud of. Maynard’s side seemed devoid of ideas and lackadaisical throughout the 90 minutes on that Wednesday night, as the Iron capitalised on a clearly poor York performance.
This left a lot of questions in the heads of the City faithful heading into the following match, just 3 days later, however, following the unpredictable precedent, the Minstermen successfully escaped Hartlepool with a 2-1 win, in a tough away fixture that certainly gets crowds going every season, without fail. A late goal ensured that the three points returned to Yorkshire, with Ben Brookes taking his chance to prove his worth from the bench.
After an undeniably inconsistent period for the Minstermen, Maynard will surely be fairly pleased with some of the results he’s pulled off since joining the club, but disappointed with a couple of hiccups he’s faced early in his York City tenure. City currently sit 7th in the table with 22 points, 8 points away from league leaders Rochdale, currently on 30. The most recent result is a majorly positive one, overcoming the challenge of Hartlepool away, and Maynard’s Minstermen (along with fans across the city) will now look ahead in hopes of finding consistency, rhythm, and keeping up with those teams ahead in the table.
Add a comment