York City 0-1 AFC Telford United

York City slumped to a home defeat on the opening day of the National League North against Telford.

Matthew Barnes-Homer’s strike just a minute before half-time was enough for the visitors to secure all three points. His shot was Telford’s only effort on target.

York had a number of chances prior to going a goal down but Telford keeper Jas Singh made several saves to keep out the Minstermen. The best of York’s goal scoring opportunities came in the 21st minute as Jon Parkin headed against the bar and Hamza Bencherif was denied from close range.

Telford then took the lead when John Marsden got to the byline and drilled a low cross into the area for Barnes-Homer to bury into the back of the net from inside the six-yard box.

With a lead to protect Telford sat back in the second half and were able to deal with what York had to throw at them, quite literally – as substitute Sam Muggleton unleashed his long throw abilities, although to no avail.

Throughout the half, York struggled in the final third, which was in no small part to Telford’s disciplined and effective defending. The hosts came closest to an equaliser when Jas Singh was again called into action, pushing a Josh Law free kick over the bar.

Overall it was a frustrating afternoon for York’s players and the almost 3000 strong crowd at Bootham Crescent. Having failed to capitalise on early opportunities, they were then unable to breakdown their opponents who worked hard to protect their lead.

Speaking to Minster FM after the match, York manager Gary Mills said there was little to be pleased about:

"If I’m being honest, there’s no real positives for me today. We can do better at everything we’ve done today from start to finish."

"The positives if anything is the crowd we got today, so I don’t want them to stop coming back because we’ve lost today. But we’ve got to go and play better for them to do that."

On the team’s next test, away to Blyth Spartans, Mills said:

"Prepare how we normally do. Get ready for another game of football on Tuesday night and bounce back."

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