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Photos: Jack Western
A grandstand finish saw York snatch a deserved point in their league match with Leeds Met, courtesy of James Davies’ injury time goal.
York piled on the pressure for the last fifteen minutes of the game but struggled to make the breakthrough. Despite good build up play, they lacked the final product as the Met goalkeeper was only rarely tested, until a swift move finally let in Davies, who made no mistake.
Captain Matt Mawdesley picked up the ball in midfield and bared down on the Leeds defence, spreading the ball out wide. The cross came into the middle, and the Met ‘keeper could only flap at the ball, distracted by the nearby centre back.
The ball fell to Davies on the half-volley, and he managed to keep his shot down and inside the far post, leading to jubilant celebrations.
An equaliser was nothing less than York deserved in what was a fairly even and for long periods open game of football. Leeds Met were a strong side, and Dom McMahon in goal was probably tested more often than his counterpart.
As the game wore on Met’s threat became limited to sporadic counter-attacks, and after they took a 2-1 lead they increasingly looked to have settled for that score line. York had other ideas.
It had been a promising start for York as they took a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute. A half-volley by Clarke from outside the box was well saved by the ‘keeper. The resultant corner led to a scramble in the penalty box, before Dalton Harris bundled a header over the line.
There was a hint of controversy about Harris’ finish, but the referee correctly blew for a goal as the ball appeared from our angle to have crossed the line despite the goalkeeper’s best efforts to keep it out.
York had been the better team up to that point, but that was their first real chance of the match. It seemed to spur Met on, however, and six minutes later they were level.
The goal came from a York corner. The delivery was cleared, releasing Met to break down the right wing. A lovely cross provided their striker with a free header, and he made no mistake.
At 1-1 the game was at its liveliest. York had a number of chances, including an audacious chip just before half-time by Clarke from 25 yards, which hit the bar.
On another occasion, a quick break by York let in Harris, but in two minds whether to shoot or cross he ended up doing neither convincingly.
But Met also had their best spell in the lead up to the interval. In the 28th minute a penalty claim by Met was rightly waved away. The ball did appear to strike Tom Brandreth in the arm, but his arms remained by his sides throughout and there was certainly no hint of it being deliberate.
On the stroke of half-time, York had McMahon to thank for still being level. He made a good low save to his left after the Met striker had been played through on goal.
After the break McMahon was again heavily involved in the action, another good low save coming after some patient build-up play by Met, probably the best move of the match.
But in the 56th minute Met took the lead. An effort from the edge of the box was again well saved, but only an opposition player followed the shot in and, with McMahon still grounded, the ball was placed into an empty net.
This came just a minute after York had a brilliant chance to retake the lead. Mawdelsey delivered a sumptuous cross from the left, but Clarke’s free header at the back post went back across goal and wide of the target.
After a better spell before and after half-time, Met were good value for their lead. But from here-on in York began to dominate.
Substitute Phil Taylor, on for the goalscorer Harris, nearly made an impact with just about his first touch, but his header went narrowly over the crossbar. Brandreth also got involved; his header from a late corner couldn’t be directed on target.
York’s best chance to level, though, had come courtesy of Davies. Alex Tringham used some nice skill to turn inside on the left wing, before delivering the ball on a plate for Davies around the penalty spot. The pressure from his marker proved too much, though, as his shot rolled tamely to the Met ‘keeper.
In the end it didn’t matter, as Davies became the hero nonetheless, with his composed finish in injury time to level the scores.
A reflective Mawdesley spoke to Vision after the game: “We needed a win really, in terms of going for promotion. It was definitely not our best performance, I thought in the first half we were terrible, second half we were better when we went to 4-4-2 and made a few changes. They were a good side and played quite well.
“We were quite lucky to get the goal at the end, but we worked hard and created a lot of chances, so I think it was maybe deserved. I’m happy with the draw from 10 minutes to go. It means we’re still in for promotion, if we win our last two games we go up.”