Photo by Tom Poole
York City fell to their first home defeat since August after two goals from former striker Will Davies earned Sutton United a 2-1 victory at the LNER Community Stadium.
Davies glanced in a header for Sutton after a quarter-of-an-hour before the number nine doubled the lead by rifling home a near-post strike.
York pushed hard to find a route back into the match and finally closed the gap when Dipo Akinyemi flicked in a close-range chance on 84 minutes, but the hosts had ultimately left themselves too much work to do.
City made nine changes from the side which were knocked out of the FA Trophy at Gainsborough Trinity last weekend, with new recruit Josh Stones given a full York debut up top after his move from Wigan Athletic.
The Minstermen made a bright start and registered the contest’s first shot on target when Dan Batty’s near-post effort stung the palms of goalkeeper Jack Sims inside three minutes.
Sutton came even closer to opening the scoring with Josh Coley twice squandering fine chances. A magnificent recovery tackle from Marvin Armstrong denied the winger before Harrison Male was on hand to make a smart stop to Coley’s one-on-one.
There was nothing Male could do to prevent Sutton on the quarter-hour mark though as Lewis Simper’s whipped corner was nodded in at close range by former City striker Will Davies.
The visitors doubled their advantage 10 minutes later. After quickly breaking down the right flank before a fortuitous touch from Ashley Nadesan saw the ball go through the legs of Malachi Fagan-Walcott and into the path of Davies, who thrashed the ball into the near post.
York began to get a better foothold in the contest for the remainder of the half but found their chances limited – Callum Howe seeing a header punched clear from Sims and Ricky Aguiar’s ambitious bicycle kick sent off target.
City continued to search for a way back into the contest and their new-look front three came almightily close to combining to reduce the deficit.
Ollie Pearce’s flick-on down the left channel found Dipo Akinyemi who in turn picked out Stones in the box, with the debutant rounding the keeper and striking the post from the narrowest of angles.
Akinyemi also remained a lively threat to Sutton, having seen a header deflected narrowly wide and another low effort partially blocked to allow Sims a comfortable save.
Sutton were content to sit behind the ball for the large part but almost found a third on a rare foray forward when Eduino Vaz’s chip found Nana Boateng who somehow headed the wrong side of the post from inside the six-yard box.
By this stage, City had brought Tyrese Sinclair, Ashley Nathaniel-George and Lenell John-Lewis off the bench, but United’s defence remained stubborn.
Alex Hunt saw a free-kick hit the ball and whistle over the bar before the midfielder’s sharp pass allowed John-Lewis to lay off for Pearce whose strike was well held by Sims.
With six minutes remaining, the Minstermen finally gained the just rewards. Keeping an attack alive from a corner, Pearce found some room for a shot on the turn and Akinyemi flicked the ball in through a melee of bodies.
York battled for a leveller until the final of the six-added minutes but fell short as Sutton held on for the three points.
We are next in action away at Oldham Athletic on Tuesday night (7:45pm kick-off).
YORK CITY: Male, Howe (C) (90’ King), Hunt, Akinyemi, Pearce, Armstrong (60’ Sinclair), Batty (60’ Nathaniel-George), Aguiar (46’ John), Felix, Stones (72’ John-Lewis), Fagan-Walcott
UNUSED SUBS: Watson, Chadwick
SUTTON UNITED: Sims, French (C), Coley (90’ Jackson), Simper, Davies (85’ De Silva), Vaz (78’ Muller), Barbrook, Taylor, Nadesan (82’ Sandat), Woodyard (60’ Boateng), Topallaj
UNUSED SUBS: Ranson, Evans
DUTCH BARN ORCHARD VODKA MAN OF THE MATCH, CHOSEN BY YORK COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY CENTRE: Dipo Akinyemi
ATTENDANCE: 6,369 (244 Sutton United fans)