Hayes & Yeading 1 York City 2: Play-offs remaining in sight as fortune favours Minstermen

This tiny Middlesex club, which somehow manages to survive on average crowds of 500, would have been comfortable winners but for York goalkeeper Michael Ingham, who made fine saves to deny Jefferson Louis, Bradley Pritchard and Elliott Buchanan in the opening 15 minutes and an even better one to keep out Adam Bygrave’s header just after half-time.

By then, York were a goal up thanks to a 23rd-minute stroke of luck.

The combative Jonathan Smith got a slight nudge on Ashley Chambers’s corner but Delroy Preddie might have saved but for a deflection off Bygrave.

Hayes, a mixture of full and part-timers, deserved their 75th-minute equaliser, former Rotherham United player Peter Holmes, on loan to York two years ago, rocketing a tremendous shot into Ingham’s top left-hand corner.

Honours even was the least Hayes merited, but another stroke of fortune saw York claim victory four minutes later.

Smith chased a long ball which seemed to be going out of play and centred for Michael Rankine to get in a header which Preddie would have saved had the ball not struck Nathan Webb to be deflected out of his reach.

The win took York up four places to seventh and with matches in hand they are well placed to reach the play-offs. Goal-scoring is still a major problem – how they miss Richard Brodie, now with Crawley.

“It was a tough game and Hayes will be disappointed they didn’t get something out of it,” admitted York manager Gary Mills.

Hayes & Yeading United: Preddie; Bygrave, Cadmore, Wassmer, Brown; Webb (Appiah 85), Hand, Holmes, Pritchard; Louis (Wright 72), Buchanan, Yiadom (61). Unused substitutes: Harrison, Ferrell.

York City: Ingham; Darville, C Smith, Parslow, Meredith; J Smith, Kerr, Hatfield (Boucaud 86); Chambers (Carruthers 83), Constantine, Reed (Rankine 67). Unused substitutes: Barrett, McDermott.

Referee: M Stewart (Harwich).

Man of the match: Michael Ingham.