York City 0 Newport County 1: Jackie McNamara rueful as tactical switch proves fruitless for Minstermen

Bottom-of-the-table York were hoping to move within a point of their visitors in the table, but that gap widened to seven instead, following teenage striker Aaron Collins’s eighth-minute strike.

York’s Dave Winfield had a header cleared off the line by Scott Boden and Vadaine Oliver forced an excellent reflex save from on-loan Mitchell Beeney.

But a second-half move from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 saw the Minstermen fail to muster another noteworthy attempt on the way to a demoralising defeat

McNamara conceded: “We changed system, but maybe it suited them because they kept a defensive line and we found it hard to get in behind them.

“Sometimes, our decision-making in the last third could have been quicker though. They had three shots on goal and won, which tells you everything about the game.”

Collins fired into Scott Flinders’s bottom-right corner from 20 yards after easing his way past Kenny McEvoy and Luke Summerfield.

The 18-year-old forward was also inches away from adding a second moments later, and Medy Elito hit an upright during an awful start by the hosts.

York awoke from their slumbers with Winfield and Oliver’s chances, but the lack of a second-half fightback prompted boos from sections of the home crowd at the final whistle.

York City: Flinders; Hendrie, Winfield, Cameron, Ilesanmi; Summerfield (Coulson, 69), Penn, Berrett; McEvoy (Fewster, 83), Oliver, Galbraith (Massanka, 56). Unused substitutes: Carson, Swan, Dixon, Ingham, Fewster.

Newport: Beeney; Holmes, Donacien, Hughes, Davies; Dymond (Barrow, 76), Byrne, Partridge (Klukowski, 30), Elito; Boden (Taylor, 90), Collins. Unused substitutes: Barrow, Ralph, Twumasi, Green, Owen-Evans.

Referee: Darren England.

Man of the match: Aaron Collins (Newport).