By Brad Saxton | Images by Craig McNair
The Young Minstermen bowed out of the FA Youth Cup last night after a 3-0 defeat against South Shields.
City headed up to the North-East hoping to replicate their run in the competition from last season by reaching the first round proper for the second year in a row, but it was the North-East side who secured the win in front of a healthy crowd at the 1st Cloud Arena.
York went close to opening the lead after only fourteen minutes as Alex Payne diverted a low effort narrowly wide of the mark following a perfectly-timed low cross into the area, before forward Alex Hernandez tested the goalkeeper into a fine save from close-range after tidy play down the right by right-back Ben Tate.
The hosts led in the 32nd minute through a neat volley inside the area after being played in from the right, before the lead was doubled with a superbly-timed volley across goal and into the bottom-left corner following a cross-field pass from left to right.
The Minstermen were awarded a penalty on the stroke of half-time as Hernandez was fouled after capitalising on a loose-ball in the South Shields defence. The forward picked himself up to take the penalty, but he was denied from twelve yards as the goalkeeper guessed the correct way and got down low to deny his effort.
A change in formation in the second-half saw York look to edge their way back into the game, but it was the hosts who carried on as they left off in the first-half as they looked to extend their lead further.
City goalkeeper Harry Carr was called into action on the hour-mark, getting down well to deny an effort from close-range, before the young shot-stopper did well to divert a curling effort from distance away from goal.
With seven minutes to go, Burland was fouled in the penalty area by the South Shields goalkeeper, but the referee waived away protests for a penalty and said play on.
And only two minutes later, the hosts extended their lead further with a finish from close-range to secure the victory for the Northern side and secure their place in the hat for the first round proper of the FA Youth Cup.
Speaking after the game, Youth Team Manager Tim Ryan gave us his thoughts on the side’s performance, saying “It was a really big night for the club on an FA Youth Cup night, and I’m really disappointed with how we’ve come away the game, we just didn’t show up at all tonight.
“Goals change games and we came here to set-up in a way to combat how they play, but the two goals in quick succession changed the game and it made it a lot harder for ourselves heading into the second half.
“We came up against a really good, possession-based side, who dominated the duels and won everything in the middle. From start to finish, they had a lot more competitive edge and fire in the belly to win the game than we did and that was disappointing to see.
“They’re a team who are now in the same league as us and when we come up against them next we need to put on a much better performance.”