Exeter City fall short at York

Report: York City 2 Exeter City 1

Exeter City were defeated 2-1 at Bootham Crescent, as they couldn't quite manage the comeback against hosts York City.

The hosts went into the interval with a 2-1 lead, as John McCombe headed the opener and Michael Coulson drilled in a loose ball before Scot Bennett pegged a goal back from close range.

And despite City’s commitment to attack in the second period, the scoreline remained unchanged at full-time as York saw out the win. On two occasions the hosts were forced to hack off their own goal-line and John O'Flynn hit the base of the post, but the Grecians couldn’t find that important second goal.

After recovering from injury, stopper Artur Krysiak was back amongst the starters with Christy Pym taking a seat on the bench. Scot Bennett began at right-back with captain Danny Coles recalled after a knee problem, partnering Jordan Moore-Taylor at centre-half, and with one eye on the midweek game against Burnley in the Under-21 Premier League Cup, Matt Grimes began on the bench.

David Wheeler was not included amongst the matchday 18, while Jimmy Keohane began the game behind striker John O’Flynn. Jamie Reid’s inclusion on the bench, having through a midweek reserve game, meant that he was in line for a first City appearance since September, after suffering a groin problem on international duty.

City’s first opportunity came within a minute as O’Flynn won a foul 35 yards from goal. Matt Gill dinked a ball into the danger area, which just evaded O’Flynn as he tried to volley as it dropped over his shoulder.

York began to work their way into the game as Russell Penn and Keith Lowe both had efforts, neither of which troubled the returning Krysiak.

But the hosts, who had looked increasingly threatening in the early stages, broke the deadlock just after the quarter-hour mark. Moore-Taylor had done well initially to block out Coulson’s effort from a narrow angle after being laid in by Will Hayhurst, but from the resultant corner McCombe rose to meet a well-flighted ball to the back post and headed York into the lead.

Keohane tried to respond early on and won a free-kick with some neat feet that caused the York defence to bundle him over. The Irish attacker took the set-piece himself but couldn’t get enough dip on his effort.

Instead it was City that were left picking the ball out of the net a second time. Hayhurst won a free-kick on the left-hand touchline, and when the ball was only half-cleared, striker Coulson collected, shimmied, and hammered a left-footed drive across goal and into the net.

But the Grecians cut the lead back down to one within two minutes – and for the third time in the game, the goal came from a set-piece scenario. It was Moore-Taylor that did well to win the initial aerial battle, and his defensive partner Bennett was the man alive to the situation to hook in right-footed inside the six-yard box.