York City 1, Histon 1

The Cambridgeshire village outfit upset the odds last season as their crash, bang, wallop approach to football secured a seventh-placed finish in their maiden Conference campaign. Team after team were left reaching for the paracetamol – crushed or not – as Histon battered sides into submission with an aerial bombardment. York City suffered more than most – being humbled 4-1 and 3-1.

Saturday’s point, secured by Daniel McBreen’s second-half equaliser, could therefore be regarded as progress in terms of being one more than was garnered from the same opponents in 2007/8.

There was a shade of disappointment at the final whistle, though, that Histon, bereft of last season’s shock value, were not put to the sword by a City side who had won their opening two fixtures.

The fact remains, however, that long balls launched down the channels, with an aim of winning corners and throw-ins to capitalise on your side’s superior size, is a tactic not always easily combatted. Histon assistant manager John Beck carved out a successful coaching career on such rudimentary principles in the 1980s and 90s. His unorthodox methods even seem to now include cloning on Saturday’s evidence with bearded giants Mat Mitchel-King and Matt Langston only distinguishable by the numbers on their backs.

Mitchel-King must certainly be the most cumbersome central midfielder in professional football, but his strong-armed ability to repeatedly hurl the ball into opposition penalty boxes makes him one of the first names on the teamsheet at Histon.

City’s defence, however, managed to keep the visitors at bay for large periods with Danny Wright’s 38th-minute penalty Histon’s only shot on target of the game.

It was in general play that the Minstermen failed to impose their personality, meaning the match degenerated into a messy and unattractive encounter. In short, City’s standard of football was no better than that of their visitors for the first hour of the match.

Craig Farrell was played in a central attacking role alongside McBreen as Walker started with the 4-4-2 formation that had proven successful in the latter stages of Thursday’s night’s 1-0 win against Wrexham.

But both strikers struggled to make any inroads against an uncompromising Histon defence while the creative presence of Simon Rusk, shunted to the right flank, was missed in the space between midfield anchor man Mark Greaves and deep-lying forward Ben Wilkinson.

As a consequence, the home side struggled to retain possession for the majority of the first half until McBreen’s goal saw City’s self-belief flood back.

Earlier, a poor first half had seen Wright volley narrowly wide from ten yards after Nathaniel Knight-Percival had won an aerial challenge in the City penalty box.

Wright also charged down a sloppy 28th-minute clearance by Josh Mimms, who was relieved to watch the ball rebound wide of his unguarded goal.

Further casual play led to Histon’s deadlock breaker when Wright was allowed time to cross from the left and Purkiss threw up a careless arm to concede a penalty. The Stutes’ forward then drilled his spot kick down the middle of the goal with Mimms diving to his left.

City, whose first-half efforts had been restricted to lame Wilkinson and McBreen attempts, went into the interval with Mark Robinson testing visiting ’keeper Danny Naisbitt from 30 yards.

But Jack Midson’s looping header sailed wide of Mimms’ goal early in the second half and, with no discernible improvement, Walker introduced Richard Brodie for the quiet Niall Henderson, who headed straight for the dressing room in an apparent strop.

Soon afterwards, Onome Sodje was also called off the bench and the pair’s enthusiasm had an uplifting effect on City’s flat performance.

Brodie played his part in the equaliser, guiding a low Farrell cross into the path of Purkiss who atoned for his earlier error by picking out McBreen near the penalty spot. City’s Australian striker then produced a composed finish to bend a left-footed effort beyond Naisbitt from ten yards.

Brodie cleared the David Longhurst Stand from an acute angle moments later, before Sodje appeared to have his arm tugged back in the penalty box on 87 minutes having beaten Langston to Farrell’s forward pass.

Referee Lee Metcalfe stood firm in the face of strong appeals while, two minutes later, Neil Andrews’ edge-of-the-box effort at the other end took a nasty deflection off Greaves’ head before drifing narrowly wide of a wrong-footed Mimms’ right-hand upright.

City substitute Liam Shepherd, though, went closest to a winning goal, cutting in from the left and evading two challenges before firing inches past Naisbitt’s far post in stoppage time.

Victory, while scarcely deserved by Histon, would have also flattered the Minstermen.

Match facts

York City 1 (McBreen 69), Histon 1 (Wright 38 (pen))

City: Josh Mimms 6, Ben Purkiss 6, Danny Parslow 8, David McGurk 8, Mark Robinson 8, Simon Rusk 6, Mark Greaves 6, Ben Wilkinson 6, Niall Henderson 6, Craig Farrell 6, Daniel McBreen 7.

Substitutions: Richard Brodie (for Henderson, 54) 6, Onome Sodje (for Wilkinson, 63) 7, Liam Shepherd (for McBreen, 85).

Subs not used: McDonald, Kelly.

Key: 10 – Faultless; 9 – Outstanding; 8 – Excellent; 7 – Good; 6 – Average; 5 – Below par; 4 – Poor; 3 – Dud; 2 – Hopeless; 1 – Retire.

City’s star man: Robinson – barely put a foot wrong all afternoon and made some important interventions.

Histon: Danny Naisbitt, Patrick Ada, Matt Langston, Erkan Okay (Jamie Barker, 45), Lanre Oyebanjo, Jack Midson, John Kennedy (Neil Andrews, 73), Mat Mitchel-King, Antonio Murray, Nathaniel Knight-Percival, Danny Wright (Damien Reeves, 83).

Subs not used: Lance Key, Robbie Nightingale.

Yellow cards: Mitchel-King 60, Brodie 80.

Shots on target: York 3, Histon 1.

Shots off target: York 5, Histon 3.

Corners: York 4, Histon 4.

Fouls conceded: York 14, Histon 24.

Offsides: York 2, Histon 5.

Referee: Lee Metcalfe (Preston).

Rating: fairly level-headed performance although Histon were fortunate to receive just one caution after conceding 24 fouls.

Attendance: 2,125 (47 Histon fans).

Shot of the match: McBreen’s composed finish was the best effort in a game of few chances.

Dribble of the match: Teenage winger Liam Shepherd’s late run at the Histon defence was again a rare sight over the 90 minutes.

City player watch: ’Keeper Josh Mimms

Shots held: 0

Shots parried: 0

Crosses caught: 3

Cross punched: 0

Crosses dropped: 0

Kicks to own player: 16

Kicks to opposition: 24

Kick success rate: 40 per cent

Throws to own player: 4

Throws to opposition: 0

Fouls won: 2

Fouls conceded: 0

Headers: 1

Tackles: 0

Yellow cards: 0

Final summary: Josh Mimms had a quiet afternoon in City’s goal, facing just one on-target effort – Wright’s penalty – in 90 minutes.

He guessed wrong for the spot kick and survived an earlier scare when his dallying over a clearance could have resulted in another Wright goal.

Otherwise, Mimms’ kicking was reliable, normally finding the area of his intended targets.