Report: Magpies 1-3 York City

It was last-minute heartbreak for Maidenhead United on Tuesday night as two late goals denied the Magpies of a hard-fought point. 

 

Alan Devonshire made two changes the weekend’s defeat to Yeovil Town as Joshua Johnson and Owen Cochrane replaced Kane Ferdinand and Thierry Latty-Fairweather, with the latter being ineligible due to the visitors being his parent club. 

 

The first chance under the floodlights fell to York as Jeff King’s overlapping run resulted in a dangerous cross but Stones’ finish lacked conviction. 

 

With 10 minutes on the clock, United had their first attempt of meaning through Shawn McCoulsky. A couple of ricochets in the area landed the ball in the number nine’s path, but Rory Watson did well to smother the danger. 

 

A cagey affair went stale for 20 minutes with little to note until Reece Smith’s surging run drove United over the halfway line but after choosing to continue with the ball at his feet he was eventually dispossessed on the edge of the area. 

 

Smith, now heavily involved in United’s attacking play, latched on to the end of Tristan Abrahams dinked cross but the finish of the outside of his foot floated just over the bar. 

 

In the 42nd minute, the visitors took the lead through Ollie Pearce. The league’s top scorer glanced in King’s corner to give them a slender advantage going into the break. 

 

 

Just four minutes into the second half, United had a great chance to draw level as Abrahams applied great pressure to Watson in the York goal, who was forced to fall onto the ball and concede an indirect free kick. After five minutes of deliberation, with the ball being moved multiple times, Abrahams eventually got to shoot but his effort was charged down by a wall of City defenders. 

 

On the hour mark, Maidenhead did draw level through the man in the thick of the action. A deep cross to the back post was nodded back into danger by Owen Cochrane, just for it to land perfectly on the foot of Abrahams to volley sumptuously into the bottom corner. 

 

York went close to retaking the lead as goal scorer Pearce slipped in Josh Stones, but the sliding challenge of Miles Welch-Hayes did enough to put him off and Stones missed the target. 

 

The visitors were committing men forward and their four-man forward line all combined, with Stones playing Tyrese Sinclair through but a terrific hand from Craig Ross palmed the ball away from danger. 

 

With both teams searching for a winner, United were next to flash one just past the post. A switch of play by Johnson bounced off a couple of bodies before landing to McCoulsky on the edge of the six-yard box but he struck just wide on the swivel. 

 

It was a ping pong match of chances as the game entered the closing stages. A deep cross from Joe Felix was headed comfortably wide by Lennell John-Lewis who was completely free at the back post. 

 

With no more than a minute left of added time, Ollie Pearce grabbed his second of the match slotting past Ross, who got fingertips to it. 

 

As United pushed forward for a last-gasp equaliser, Josh Stones broke through United’s defence who had all pushed forward to make it 3-1 and secure all three points for York. 

 

 

Maidenhead United: Craig Ross, Will de Havilland, Shawn McCoulsky, Joshua Johnson, Casey Pettit, Reece Smith, Owen Cochrane, Miles Welch-Hayes, Tristan Abrahams, Alan Massey ©, Manny Onariase 

 

York City: Rory Watson, Callum Howe ©, Tyrese Sinclair, Ollie Pearce, Marvin Armstrong (John-Lewis, 70’), Dan Batty, Ricky Aguiar, Joe Felix, Josh Stones, Malachi Fagan-Walcott, Jeff King 

 

Attendance: 1075