Lure of Premier League opposition drives York on for repeat Cup run

THEY are all quietly dreaming again at Bootham Crescent.

Last season's FA Cup adventure at Stoke City would ordinarily be the pinnacle of most York City players' careers, the chance to rub shoulders with the glitterati of the Premiership and feature for more than just a fleeting second on Match of the Day.

Yet, barely 11 months later, the club's part-timers know they might not be too far away from another high-profile third round encounter following Wednesday night's heroics against Rotherham United.

York, struggling near the foot of the Blue square Premier, stunned the League Two promotion hopefuls with a sweeping 3-0 victory in the first round replay meaning only Darlington stand before them and another potential stab at the stellar ranks.

Striker Michael Rankine proved pivotal, creating the opener for captain Chris Smith and then firing in twice himself, showing the sort of form which has alerted a clutch of League One and League Two clubs to his growing prowess.

He admits the realisation they could do it all again has dawned on everyone at the North Yorkshire club.

"There's every chance we could," he told the Yorkshire Post.

"It's a winnable game for us. Obviously, Darlington will be thinking the same but we know from experience it's a great feeling to play a club like Stoke – one of the Premiership lot – and it's a great incentive now.

"The boys have worked hard and the FA Cup is what dreams are made of.

"There's every opportunity we could get into the third round again as the boys are playing some good football.

"We showed that against Rotherham. We've started scoring a few more and keeping more clean sheets with the new boss getting his ideas across."

The 'new boss' is Gary Mills, the former Nottingham Forest midfielder who won the European Cup under Brian Clough in 1980, becoming the youngest-ever finalist at just 18.

He took over from Martin Foyle at Bootham Crescent last month and has helped start to arrest York's poor early-season form, also getting the most out of Doncaster-born Rankine who has adopted a new role as a lone forward.

"To start with, I wasn't too sure with the one-up front thing as it was a bit foreign to me but I'm actually really enjoying it with all the responsibility," said the 25-year-old.

"I've played under the manager before at Alfreton Town and he's someone who is approachable and has a lot of great ideas. He knows his non-league football inside out and he has every chance of taking us up."

That might seem unlikely given City's current status in the Conference. They sit in 19th spot following just four wins, a far cry from the form which saw them come within 90 minutes of promotion last season.

Some reckon May's play-off final defeat against Oxford might have left a hangover which has hampered their start this time around but Rankine says: "A lot of people think just because we got to last year's final, we should be automatically going up this time but it doesn't work like that.

"This is a tough division. People say it's the Conference but for me it's League Three – there's some big names here now and it's a hard league to get out of.

"I don't think we've had a hangover or anything. We can pass teams off the pitch but haven't come out with the results.

"That can change if we keep working like we have and there's no reason why we can't get back up into the play-off spots."

After the heroics against Rotherham, and before the date at Darlington a week on Saturday, York return to Blue Square Premier action tomorrow at another of Rankine's former clubs – Rushden & Diamonds.

Having helped his side to a 2-0 victory over them at Bootham Crescent in September, completing the double would be just the boost City need to continue their feelgood factor.

"We have to put the FA Cup to the back of our minds now and concentrate on Rushden," said Rankine, who left them in a 10,000 deal in June last year.

"We've got to go there and get a result. We know Darlington's a great opportunity to get into the third round again and draw one of the big clubs but the Conference is our bread and butter.

"We have to keep building there and we know we can.

"If you remember last year we had a blip at the beginning and kicked on to reach the play-off final so who knows."

Rankine now has nine goals for the season, including four in his last five games, and he is thriving under Mills's new style.

"If the boys keep giving me service like they have I can score more goals," added the ex-Scunthorpe trainee.

"I'd missed 10 days with an injury earlier in the season and that affected my fitness but I'm feeling stronger now and want to carry on against Rushden."

Confidence soared in the camp during Wednesday night's game, especially after Rankine scored their second in the 13-minute purple patch,

"I was just happy to set one up for Chris," he said.

"When he put that in we just thought let's keep it tight but then we got another with a penalty and the next thing it was three."

Team-mate Danny Parslow, the long-serving defender, concurred that York feel like they have turned a corner.

The Welshman, who has played more than 150 Minstermen games since signing from Cardiff in 2006, admitted the goalless draw against Rotherham at Don Valley had proved crucial.

"We were all pretty confident after that first game and knew we were well capable," he said.

"It was nice to get the job done and we've shown that people can't just brush past us,

"It would be great to go and do it all again. But we want a result against Rushden first."