York City’s difficult start to the 2013-14 campaign continued yesterday as they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at home to newly promoted Mansfield Town.
Despite a perfect start which saw Ryan Brobbel mark his home debut with the opening goal after only two minutes, York’s woeful run of form continued as a Sam Clucas penalty, and a fortunate winner by Luke Palmer ensured that Mansfield returned home with the three points.
The game was marred by an off the ball incident which saw Richard Cresswell, who had earlier come on as a substitute in the 75th minute, be shown a red card for York, along with Mansfield defender Mark Riley.
Nigel Worthington’s side kicked off their season in style with a 1-0 win over Northampton Town, but have failed to win since then. Four defeats on the trot have left them languishing in 23rd in League Two with only four points from their opening seven games, and the prospect of another challenging season battling against relegation, looks to be in store for the Minstermen.
To add to the misery York crashed out of the League Cup in the first round with a heavy 4-0 defeat against Championship outfit Burnley, leaving Worthington with the challenge of turning around his side’s form, as he did at the close of last season.
The first problem to solve is a suspect defence which has leaked nine goals in the past four games, whilst at the other end of the pitch York have continued to struggle for regular goals, with only five in all competitions to date.
Next up York travel to fifth place Wycombe on Saturday, in what promises to be a tough encounter, before they host fallen giants Portsmouth the following weekend.