Lancaster men’s seconds’ football team were narrowly defeated in a fiercely contested game. Despite carrying a 2-1 lead into the half-time break, Lancaster were unable to prevent a dangerous York side from wrestling back the initiative to complete a fine comeback.
The tie started in frenetic fashion with both sides looking capable of opening the scoring. Pacey wide play was a feature of Lancaster’s game and it led to the breakthrough as Ben Rigby profited from a pin-point centre to sweep his side into a 1-0 lead. Andy Wood was a danger throughout for the away side, with his willingness to take on York’s full-back providing the strikers with numerous quality crosses.
Both defences looked vulnerable to the long ball over the top and there were alarming gaps between the centre-halves of either side. This was to be Lancaster’s downfall as York quickly got themselves back on level terms; a long-ball bypassed the defence and the striker nipped in sharply to round the keeper and tap home.
This error clearly rattled the Lancaster keeper who was severely tested with some long-range strikes from York, who clearly sensed the opportunity to take the lead after building up momentum. However, in what was a fairly scrappy game at times, it was Lancaster who got their noses in front before half-time; Jack Griffiths slamming the ball home in similar fashion to the FA Cup final goal of the previous day.
York were clearly riled by this goal against the run of play and they began the second half firmly on the front foot. Lancaster battled bravely but could not keep the home side out for long; a superb defence splitting ball exploited the centre-halves positioning and the York striker notched a second with a composed finish into the bottom right hand corner of the net.
Lancaster were now looking ragged and the midfield dropped too deep which prevented the red rose side from stemming the tide. York looked supremely confident, and managed to take a 3-2 lead with around 20 minutes remaining. Once again, a ball split the centre halves and York’s left-winger ghosted in to scuff home an effort from close range.
Whilst this blow spurred Lancaster on to up their game, it never really looked as if the equalizer would come. There were a couple of close efforts from set pieces but on the whole York played the remaining time out in a professional manner; holding on to possession and making Lancaster chase the ball down. Time was to run out for Lancaster however as York secured a 3-2 win and two points towards their charge for Roses glory.
