THE moment of truth has arrived for York City. After weeks of hovering on the brink of the relegation zone, the Minstermen finally dropped into the bottom four after Saturday’s lamentable 1-0 defeat at Grays Athletic.

Andy Pugh’s thumping 38th-minute goal left the visitors floundering long before Simon Rusk’s deserved red card for a crazy, petulant kick at a grounded opponent in injury-time.

No longer can manager Martin Foyle’s strugglers rely on the inadequacies of the teams around them to guarantee Blue Square Premier survival.

Only seven games now stand between City and the unthinkable – a drop into the desperate backwaters of Blue Square North.

A lack of cutting edge has gradually dragged the club into the dogfight at the basement, and that was once again evident at the New Rec.

A run of four games without a goal is far from ideal form to be taking into such a crucial run-in – nor is a sorry sequence of three wins in 23 league games.

Foyle reverted to a 4-4-2 formation in a bid to pep up his side’s attacking threat in the absence of suspended 21-goal leading scorer Richard Brodie.

But fielding full-backs Ben Purkiss and Andy McWilliams in wide midfield positions back-fired, as they provided little supply for strikers Onome Sodje and Simon Brown – and scant protection for the back-four.

Brown and Sodje proved willing runners, with their mobility posing problems for Jamie Stuart and Fabian Wilnis on the few occasions the ball reached them on the ground.

All too often the ball arrived in the air, however, and as the game wore on Grays’ front pairing of Jamie Taylor and Pugh looked by far the more potent threat.

That was largely down to the quality of supply, with Barry Cogan and Ishmael Walsh demonstrating the benefit of naturally attacking wide men, while Stuart Thurgood and ex-City man Stuart Elliott ran the midfield engine-room despite the toil of Levi Mackin.

City were indebted to goalkeeper Michael Ingham, who was called upon to save his side twice in a frantic eight-minute spell in the first half.

An instinctive two-handed parry kept out Taylor’s free header from Cogan’s 21st-minute corner, and Ingham then somehow got his left hand to a near-post half-volley from the same Grays player in the 29th minute.

Between those strikes Sodje spurned City’s best chance of the half, sidefooting tamely at Steve Arnold after Brown took advantage of a Fabian Wilnis slip to play him in.

It was going to take something special to beat the brilliant Ingham, and Grays produced it. Cogan’s trickery on the right opened City up, Taylor collected his ball in the box, turned and found on-loan Gillingham striker Pugh, who rifled an unstoppable shot high into the net.

Aside from a smattering of limp long-range efforts, the visitors failed to threaten until their first corner in the 66th minute when Pugh blocked McGurk’s far-post header from Purkiss’ flag-kick.

A switch back to 4-3-3 with the introduction of Mark Greaves and Adam Boyes in the 74th minute revived hopes of a leveller, chiefly through Greaves’ aerial prowess.

But the closing ten minutes centred on the cards of referee Marvin Thompson.

The official produced a red card to dismiss Grays ’keeper Steve Arnold for handling outside the box in the 85th minute but, after conferring with an assistant, it was downgraded to a caution.

That was a talking point in the City camp as both sides went into the game without a substitute ‘keeper, but in truth the game was already gone.

Thompson’s red card finally came out for Rusk in the 93rd minute. Thurgood went to ground to run down the clock and the City midfielder aimed a ridiculous kick at his midriff.

Rusk was reluctant to leave the field, arguing his case before being dragged away by his team-mates as Thurgood was yellow-carded for his unsporting conduct.

Home truths were aired in the away dressing-room in the immediate aftermath of this dismal performance, with directors, management and players sharing heated views.

The club’s loyal supporters, about 200 of whom made the fruitless journey to Essex, can only hope that their frank exchange stirs a positive reaction – starting when Oxford visit KitKat Crescent tomorrow night.


Match stats

Grays Athletic 1 (Pugh 38), York City 0

York City: Michael Ingham 9, Shaun Pejic 6, David McGurk 6, Danny Parslow 6, Mark Robinson 5, Levi Mackin 7, Andy McWilliams 5, Simon Rusk 3, Ben Purkiss 5, Onome Sodje 6, Simon Brown 7.

Substitutions: Simon Russell (for McWilliams, 62) 6, Mark Greaves (for Mackin, 74) 6, Adam Boyes (for Purkiss, 74) 6.

Subs not used: McBreen, C Smith.

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: Michael Ingham – two stunning first-half saves and a safe all-round performance.


Grays: Steve Arnold, Sam Long, Jamie Stuart, Fabian Wilnis, George Beavan, Barry Cogan, Stuart Elliott, Stuart Thurgood, Ishmael Walsh, Jamie Taylor (Jamie Slabber 79), Andrew Pugh.

Subs (not used): Ronnie Jones, Tyrone Berry, Tommy Black, Bradley Hudson-Odoi.


Yellow cards: Mackin 71, Arnold 85, Thurgood 93. Red: Rusk 93.

Shots on target: Grays Athletic 8 York 7

Shots off target: Grays Athletic 5 York 4

Corners: Grays Athletic 6 York 4

Fouls conceded: Grays Athletic 10 York 13

Offsides: Grays Athletic 3 York 6

Referee: Marvin Thompson (Middlesex).

Rating: Let game flow, but bizarre decision on Arnold’s late handball.

Attendance: 720.

Save of the match: Take your pick from Michael Ingham’s outstanding stops from Jamie Taylor in the 21st and 29th minutes.

Mistake of the match: Simon Rusk’s decision to follow up a verbal volley at Stuart Thurgood with a kick at the prone Grays midfielder.


Player watch: David McGurk

Goal attempts on target: 1

Goal attempts off target: 0

Blocked goal attempts: 0

Passes to own player: 2

Passes to opposition: 0

Crosses to own player: 0

Crosses to opposition: 0

Pass completion rate: 100 per cent

Dribbles ball retained: 0

Dribbles ball lost: 0

Headers: 18

Tackles: 4

Clearances, blocks and interceptions: 9

Fouls won: 0

Fouls conceded: 1

Offsides: 0

Yellow cards: 0

Final summary: The return to a 4-4-2 formation earned David McGurk a recall to the City starting line-up alongside Danny Parslow. He made an uncertain start to the game as the Minstermen struggled to cope with the threat of Grays frontmen Jamie Taylor and Andy Pugh. His tally of 18 headers reveals the extent to which both sides used the aerial route, as does the paltry number of passes. As the visitors pushed for an equaliser in the second half, McGurk joined the attack and almost scored with a far-post header.