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Photos: Oliver Todd
York 2nds suffered their first home defeat of the season as a strong Leeds 5ths side edged a fairly close contest.
The conditions were hostile to both sets of players; temperatures plummeted to freezing levels as arctic winds and sleety showers pummelled the JLD.
The early stages of the match were scrappy but York did have chances. James Lewis failed to connect with an Alonso cross from the right and Duggie Macateer’s shot from a short corner routine was parried by the Leeds keeper.
York managed to get some excellent passing moves going, with Burke, Isaac and Murphy linking up well on more than one occasion down the right wing.
However, there were nervous moments at the other end as Burke had to make an excellent block from Leeds shot behind for a corner with ‘keeper Dong-oh Shin beaten.
But Shin was called into action soon afterwards, first saving a long range shot from the right wing with his stick, and then repelling a closer range effort with his foot.
Just before half-time, Sam Unsworth had an excellent chance to give York the lead after Lewis played him in, but a fully-stretched Leeds ‘keeper deflected his drive away to safety.
Leeds began the second half the stronger of the two sides, seemingly unsatisfied with the goalless scoreline. It required Shin to make one outstanding save high to his left from a flicked shot.
But from the resulting short corner York were caught napping, with devastating consequences. The Leeds player dummied his shot before feeding his teammate unmarked in the area, who crossed for the forward who slotted home.
York hit back with another great chance, Macateer having his close-range shot blocked by scrambling defenders after the Leeds ‘keeper was out of position.
Their best chance yet came through Macateer as his goal was disallowed, the referee penalising him for using his foot to prod the ball into the goal. The chance arose after more excellent work from Isaac and Burke on the right wing.
But York finally managed to equalise after 52 minutes when a speculative punt by Isaac from 20 metres out ricocheted around in the Leeds striking circle. Simon Murphy reacted faster than the Leeds defenders to tap the ball home.
Leeds’ second goal was a cruel blow to York, who appeared on top by this stage. It came about from a strike from 15 metres out which was well saved by the leg of Shin, but the rebound was knocked in from close range.
And the task became a whole lot more difficult when Leeds scored a third with ten minutes left. York again switched off from a short corner, although the Leeds player still had work to do as he swiped a vicious, high shot beyond the reach of Shin.
Although the final score was 3-1, it was a lot more even than it appears on paper. After the match, captain Alex Alonso reflected: ‘We missed a lot of opportunities today, but I think we played the better hockey. It’s our first home defeat this season and we’ve made this place a fortress which shows how far we’ve come as a team.’