Photo by Adam Davy
York City suffered late heartbreak to the hands of Barnsley FC as the Minstermen bow out of the Emirates FA Cup.
Joe Grey was first to put the Barnsley defenders under pressure. His cross from the right was cleared away inside the Barnsley box.
The hosts’ first chance also came from a cross. A ball in from the right was met by Reyes Cleary at the back-post, but he couldn’t find a clear connection on the ball as City cleared away.
City nearly drew first blood after 12 minutes when the ball was slipped through to Josh Stones inside the box, who went for goal, only to be denied by a great save by Murphy Cooper.
York took a deserved lead after 25 minutes. A cross from Ollie Banks was met by the head of Josh Stones, who headed the ball over Cooper and into the net.
Despite City having most of the chances in the first half, it was Barnsley who drew level. Davis Keillor-Dunn finding room to shoot in the box before rolling the ball past Harrison Male and into the net.
Barnsley were building up some momentum and came close once more. Patrick Kelly shooting from outside the box, but his shot bounced just wide of the target.
City responded with a chance of their own, Grey’s cross from the right was met by Stones once more but this time Cooper made the stop.
The reds had the final chance of the first half. Cleary with a curling effort from the edge of the box forcing Male into making a smart stop to his left.
City caught Barnsley on the break when Stones fed Ollie Banks through on goal in the 58th minute. Banks’ shot was denied by an excellent save by Cooper who managed to keep the scores level.
This chance brought some brief momentum for York. Ollie Pearce shooting on the turn just minutes later but this one rolled wide of the target.
Joe Felix was next to have a go, his shot from a tight angle was saved on the line by Cooper before the rebound fell to Malachi Fagan-Walcott who fired over the bar.
Despite the City pressure the chance of a goal would once again fall to Keillor-Dunn. Rolling the ball past Male once more to give Barnsley the lead with 13 minutes to go.
In dramatic fashion City had the equaliser with three minutes to go. Hunt’s free-kick was parried into the path of Pearce who saw his shot somehow kept out by Cooper. The ball however fell to Mark Kitching who smashed the ball into the roof of the net to draw City level.
The scenes would last just four minutes as Barnsley drew level in the final stages. A corner floated in fell to Marc Roberts who headed the ball past Male to seal the win for the league one side.
Barnsley FC: Cooper, Russell, Roberts, Shepherd, Ogbeta, Cleary, Kelly, Farrugia, Bland, Keillor-Dunn, Connell.
Subs: Flavell, Vickers, McGoldrick, Gent, Rooney, Watson, Barratt, Alker, Yoganathan.
York City: Male, Kitching, Fagan-Walcott, Howe, Hunt, Stones, Pearce, Grey, Boateng, Banks, Newby.
Subs: Sykes-Kenworthy, Fallowfield, Nathaniel-George, Brookes, Batty, Olley, Felix, Fadera, Kettlewell.
Attendance: 5,953 (2,780 away).
