York City 0, Cambridge 0

A drab 0-0 draw also saw York City only force one save from visiting ’keeper Danny Potter as injured striker Onome Sodje was sorely missed.

In the Minstermen’s previous outing at Stevenage, Sodje provided the attacking spark and thrust the club have struggled to find since the untimely departure of Martyn Woolford on the eve of the new season.

Without him, though, the home side again looked laboured in the final third of the pitch.

Daniel McBreen was recalled to partner Craig Farrell in attack and both failed to take good opportunities in front of goal.

The pair should not shoulder full responsibility for their team’s shortcomings, however, with City failing to penetrate down the flanks effectively or dominate in the middle of the park.

Too many players also dwelled in possession and felt a need to take an extra touch as promising situations repeatedly came to nought.

Fortunately, the Minstermen back four defended with greater purpose than they had during the 3-3 draw at Stevenage and kept a fourth clean sheet of the season.

Cambridge’s only attempt on Michael Ingham’s goal came in the second minute of the match when Mark Convery’s cross sailed over former City team-mate David McGurk, but Lee McEvilly headed straight at the Northern Ireland international.

Six minutes later, Farrell squandered his side’s best chance when his perfectly-timed run took him clear of the visitors defence after Simon Russell’s well-measured through ball.

But, as he bore down on goal, Farrell’s final touch before shooting was too heavy and Potter smothered his toe-poked shot with Anthony Tonkin then blocking Simon Rusk’s follow up effort.

On 20 minutes, Russell saw a curling effort clear the crossbar from 20 yards and Farrell saw another shot charged down after Ben Purkiss and Rusk had combined down the right.

Rusk also sliced woefully wide from 25 yards on the stroke of half-time with City trudging off to a subdued handful of claps.

The second half promised an improvement when captain Mark Greaves fired over from 15 yards and then headed wide at the far post after a Purkiss cross.

But McBreen passed up another opportunity to break the deadlock on 54 minutes when Potter’s goal kick fell straight to his feet 35 yards from goal.

The Australian striker drove into the penalty box, but then drilled a low shot wide of a relieved Potter’s near post.

Farrell also skewed a chance wide on 68 minutes and Richard Brodie, Ben Wilkinson and Peter Holmes all missed the target from distance as City struggled to build up the head of steam needed to unsettle their visitors.

At the other end, Mark Robinson made an excellent recovery challenge to safeguard a point after Chris Holroyd had been left unmarked at the far post to receive a Felino Jardim cross.

The result means Colin Walker’s men are now hovering just three points above the Blue Square Premier relegation zone and nine adrift of leaders Crawley Town even though no side has lost fewer games, with a record of two defeats matched only by Kettering.

Bottom two Lewes and Northwich, though, are the only clubs to have won fewer matches and, had just three of the Minstermen’s eight draws been converted into victories, then the team would be occupying a play-off position rather than their current 15th-place standing.

Walker will be hoping tomorrow night’s trip to Wrexham can mark a return to winning ways with the Welshman providing one of City’s three victories back in mid-August.

Match facts

City: Michael Ingham 7, Ben Purkiss 7, Danny Parslow 7, David McGurk 7, Mark Robinson 7, Simon Rusk 7, Mark Greaves 6, Peter Holmes 6, Simon Russell 6, Craig Farrell 6, Daniel McBreen 6.

Substitutions: Richard Brodie (for McBreen, 77) Adam Boyes (for Farrell, 80) Ben Wilkinson (for Russell, 85)

Subs not used: Mimms, McWilliams.

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: Purkiss - solid display at right-back and the deliverer of one of City’s few crosses into the penalty box.

Cambridge United: Danny Potter, Dan Gleeson, Phil Bolland, Wayne Hatswell, Anthony Tonkin, Mark Convery (Felino Jardim, 60), Jon Challinor, Paul Carden, Danny Crow, Lee McEvilly, Chris Holroyd.

Subs not used: Danny Brown, Mark Beesley, Robbie Willmott, Steven Drench.

Yellow cards: Holmes 34, Greaves 58.

Shots on target: York 1 Cambridge 1

Shots off target: York 8 Cambridge 0

Corners: York 3 Cambridge 0

Fouls conceded: York 15 Cambridge 19

Offsides: York 8 Cambridge 4

Referee: Michael Naylor (South Yorkshire).

Rating: erratic performance not helped by some puzzling decisions from his assistants.

Attendance: 2,608 (415 away fans).

Miss of the match: Farrell’s failure to net his early one-on-one seemed to damage his self-belief and that of the team.

Cross of the match: Purkiss’ ball to the far post that Greaves headed wide.

Challenge of the match: Robinson’s brave block as Holroyd pulled the trigger.

City player watch: Michael Ingham

Shots faced: 1

Shots held: 1

Shots parried: 0

Kicks to own player: 10

Kicks to opposition: 15

Kick success rate: 40 per cent

Throws to own player: 8

Throws to opposition: 0

Throw success rate: 100 per cent

Crosses caught: 3

Crosses punched: 0

Crosses dropped: 0

Fouls won: 0

Fouls conceded: 0

Final summary: A quiet afternoon for Michael Ingham saw him make his only save of the game on two minutes. When needed, however, his handling was impeccable, as illustrated by his towering claim from a stoppage-time Jardim cross. His kicking was strong although his intended targets were often beaten in the air. He also threw the ball out frequently with full-backs Purkiss and Robinson willing recipients.