YORK City stumbled to safety at Weymouth last night after an extremely nervous 2-1 win.

The Minstermen appeared to be cruising to victory after a dominant opening first half-hour in which Richard Brodie scored his 23rd goal of the season.

But a determined Weymouth, who were relegated as a result of the draw, finished the first half strongly and grabbed a deserved equaliser seconds before the interval when Cliff Akurang scored following a Michael Ingham mistake.

The visitors then rode their luck in the second half with David McGurk forced into a goal-line clearance before Adam Boyes’ second goal in as many games secured victory.

City manager Martin Foyle kept faith with the same group of players that had enjoyed back-to-back wins against Eastbourne and Forest Green.

Strikers Daniel McBreen and Brodie both missed early chances.

McBreen fired weakly straight at Adam Ledzkins from the edge of the box after being gifted a clear run on goal by a poor clearance from the home goalkeeper.

Top scorer Brodie then fired across the face of goal after being released by Boyes.

The two forwards combined, however, to break the deadlock on 14 minutes.

Ben Purkiss released McBreen down the right and his square ball found Brodie completely unmarked ten yards from goal.

City’s top scorer took one touch to control the cross and then fired a low, right-footed volley into Ledzkins’ bottom corner.

The home side’s first chance saw Dominic Merella fire on to the roof of the stand from 25 yards and Akurang also cleared the away end after Brodie’s glancing header from Christian Smith’s corner had been cleared off the line at the other end.

A 15-yard Boyes’ drive was tipped over by Ledzkins on 24 minutes and Daniel Parslow also stabbed a far post chance straight at the home ’keeper after Brodie had helped on another Christian Smith flag-kick.

Brodie also failed to find an unguarded net from an acute angle after Ledzkins had slipped on the edge of his penalty box but Weymouth finished the first half strongest with Akurang netting the third of a hat-trick of chances.

The former Dagenham forward went close with a header and deflected shot before eventually getting his reward in stoppage-time after an Ingham error.

Merella’s deflected long-range shot was spilled by Ingham and Akurang pounced to sidefoot past the floored and red-faced ’keeper.

An encouraged Weymouth continued to put City under pressure at the start of the second half with McGurk clearing a close-range Akurang effort off the line.

Coutts also volleyed over from 25 yards, while McBreen blazed over from six yards.

A misjudgement by Parslow then saw Merella latch on to a hopeful punt forward but an alert Ingham saved at his feet.

The nervous Minstermen wasted an excellent opportunity on 66 minutes when Ledzkins failed to gather Boyes’ low, left-wing cross only for McBreen to fire straight at him from six yards.

It was left for Boyes to secure survival on 77 minutes when Ledzkins failed to keep hold of Brodie’s low cross after a Levi Mackin reverse pass and City’s 18-year-old striker sidefooted in.

Ledzkins then made amends slightly with two fine saves to deny Christian Smith, who also cleared the bar with an excellent late chance.

Match facts

Weymouth 1, Akurang 45

York City 2, Brodie 14 Boyes 77

Players rating

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

Michael Ingham 5
Ben Purkiss 6
David McGurk 6
Danny Parslow 5
Shaun Pejic 6
Adam Smith 5
Levi Mackin 5
Christian Smith 5
Adam Boyes 6
Daniel McBreen 5
Richard Brodie 7

Substitutions:

Mark Greaves (for A Smith, 57)...........6
Onome Sodje (for McBreen, 90)...........
Subs not used: Brown, Torpey, Robinson.

City’s star man: Richard Brodie – a threat throughout. Scored one City goal and set up the other.

Weymouth: Adam Ledzkins, Cameron Mawer (Jamie Frampton 88), Gavin Hoyte, Kyle Critchell, Raff Gwinnett, Dominic Merella, Ben Gill (Pierre Joseph-Dubois 81), Sam Cutler, James Coutts, Sola Onibuje, Cliff Akurang. Subs: (not used): Simon Evans, Tom Richardson, Durngu Agera.

Bookings: Gwinnett 4, A Smith 18.

Referee: Steve Creighton (Berkshire). Rating: Uncontroversial and generally little to argue about any of his decisions.

Attendance: 1,122.