York City 2 Rushden and Diamonds 0: Till and Constantine on target for Minstermen

YORK CITY manager Martin Foyle sprang a surprise at Bootham Crescent when he included 32-year-old much-travelled striker Leon Constantine on the bench.

Constantine, who has played for a variety of clubs including Leeds United, Hereford, Northampton and Port Vale, was signed after the transfer deadline, Foyle taking advantage of the rule which permits a late signing if the player is unemployed.

Foyle had been given little time to plug the gap following the Conference-record 275,000 transfer of Richard Brodie to Crawley three minutes before the deadline.

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Constantine had a hand in the first goal, scored by Peter Till in the 76th minute, and scored himself two minutes later on an impressive debut.

York had struggled to break down a determined defence as both teams found it difficult to create chances in a balanced contest.

It seemed as though York would have to settle for a point until the arrival of Constantine, who headed on a left -wing centre for Till to leave Dale Roberts helpless with a low cross-shot, and he was there at the far post to net from Alex Lawless's free-kick in the 78th minute.

York's week ended on a high after the dire display at Fleetwood on Monday being followed by Brodie's exit and then three of his players appearing in court following a city centre incident last year.

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"It's been a horrendous week but it ended well as this was a very, very good team performance", said Foyle.

York City: Ingham; Parslow, McGurk, Sangare (Courteney 31), Meredith, Smith, Lawless, Barrett, Till; Gash (Constantine 63), Rankine. Unused substitutes: Knight, Young, McDermott.

Rushden & Diamonds: Roberts; Porter, Stuart, Osano, Robinson (Koranteng, 82), Johnson (O'Connor, 78), Power, Spence, Green (Jamie Day, 70), Howe, Charles. Unused substitutes: Joe Day, Keehan.

Referee: W Khatib (Sunderland).

Man of the match: David McGurk.

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