After a challenging first week back in the football league, York City will strive to put their first win of the season on the board tomorrow, as they make the trip to Underhill to face Barnet. On paper, the Bees as Barnet are known, are one of the weaker sides in the division, so York will be hoping for a positive result. After two games York sit 19th in the table, but it’s far too early to read anything into that. Last Saturday’s 3-1 reverse against Wycombe was followed by a promising and resilient performance against Morecambe, where York salvaged a point against the Shrimpers.
Against Wycombe York found the going tough, falling 3-0 behind before Jason Walker pulled back a consolation goal. However they fared better at the Globe Arena, where they twice levelled the scoring after Morecambe had seized the advantage. A penalty from former York favourite Richard Brodie gave the home side the lead, before Chris Smith headed home to equalise for the Minstermen. Stewart Drummond restored the hosts’ lead, but York refused to be beaten as Ashley Chambers bagged a late equaliser to claim a point from their Lancastrian neighbours.
This Saturday York head down to London to play Barnet, a side which they will believe they have every chance of defeating. The Bees limped to a 3-0 defeat against Port Vale on the opening day, before bouncing back to claim an encouraging 1-1 draw in midweek against Bristol Rovers, but the perennial strugglers are one of the teams tipped for relegation again this year.
The last time York met Barnet was in March 2005, over seven years ago, and on that date York ran out shock 2-1 winners at Bootham Crescent, a result they’ll happily take tomorrow. At that time both sides were in the Conference, but enjoying differing fortunes. Barnet were flying high on their way to promotion to the football league, whilst York were in a relegation battle, having already sacked two managers that season.
York are in a much more stable state now though under Gary Mills, whilst Barnet are struggling having lost numerous players over the summer, including star striker Izale McLeod. It’s likely that Mills will name an unchanged side from the one who earned a point in midweek, but striker Jamie Rees is likely to return to the squad and may feature, after recovering from a hamstring injury. It’s been a long wait, stretching back over nine years since York last won a football league match, hopefully tomorrow will be the day when that stretch ends.