Cheltenham Town 2 York City 2: Bowman brace rescues point for Minstermen

Goals from Byron Harrison and Matthew Richards looked to have put the Robins on course for victory, but Ryan Bowman bagged a brilliant brace to rescue a battling point at the Abbey Business Stadium.

“We showed the character and resilience we’ve got to get back into the game,” said Worthington.

“It’s still a fantastic point for us because they are a difficult side to play against.

“I thought it was a good honest game and probably a fair result at the end of the day.

“We really took the game to them in the second half and were probably the team most fancied to go on and win the game.”

The visitors trailed twice but benefited from some lacklustre defending to twice draw level.

Harrison poked home from close range after 12 minutes to give the Robins the early advantage, but Bowman pounced for his first goal of the season, scoring with a header eight minutes later to restore parity.

Richards curled a sweet free-kick beyond City goalkeeper Michael Ingham on the stroke of half-time, but that man Bowman popped up to complete his double in the 54th minute, this time taking advantage of a mix-up between Robins’ defender Sido Jombati and goalkeeper Scott Brown to head home into an empty net and level matters to secure a point.

Robins boss Mark Yates said: “I’m sick of defensive mistakes, they’re really costing us.”

Cheltenham: S Brown; Jombati, T Brown, Richards; Penn (Kotwica 83), Noble, Taylor, Deering; Harrison, Cureton (Gornell 70). Unused substitutes: Roberts, Hanks, Braham-Barrett, Williams.

York: Ingham; O’Neill, Smith, Parslow, Davies; Carson, Platt, Whitehouse, Brobbel (Puri 65); Fletcher (Jarvis 70), Bowman (Cresswell 88).Unused substitutes: Kettings, Clay, Fyfield, Allen.

Referee: J Linnington (Newport).

Man of the match: Ryan Bowman.