Plymouth 0 York 4: Minstermen storm in after Trotman sees red

Wes Fletcher and Josh Carson netted either side of a brace from big centre-back John McCombe as the visitors capitalised fully on Neal Trotman’s 11th-minute red card.

The win saw York climb into the top half of League Two but manager Nigel Worthington does not want his team to relent in their push to put further distance between themselves and the relegation zone.

He said: “It’s a tight league and there are a wealth of teams below us who have played two or three games less than we have done.

“So we could soon find ourselves sitting in the bottom five or six and it’s important that feet stay on the ground and our work ethic remains the same.”

With conditions surprisingly good after gale-force winds had welcomed the Minstermen to Devon during the previous day, Worthington’s men took an early lead after Trotman tripped Ryan Bowman as he rounded goalkeeper Jake Cole.

Following the dismissal, Fletcher buried the penalty and, despite Conor Hourihane and Jason Banton trying their luck with decent edge-of-the-area efforts for the 10 men, McCombe doubled City’s advantage in first-half stoppage time.

The former Mansfield defender headed in after Bowman had jumped high to meet Will Hayhurst’s cross to the far post.

Substitute Michael Coulson then created the last two goals, squaring the ball to McCombe for an 88th-minute tap-in before feeding Carson through the left channel, which provided the opportunity for him to unleash a 25-yard thunderbolt past the helpless Cole.

York are now 11th and eight points away from the last play-off position which is occupied by Southend United, who are the visitors to Bootham Crescent on Saturday.

Plymouth Argyle: Cole; Blanchard, Trotman, Nelson, Purrington; Blizzard, Hourihane, Boco (Berry, 54); Banton (Thomas, 54), Reid, Alessandra. Unused substitutes: Morgan, Young, Harvey, Gurrieri, Dawson.

York City: Pope; Oyebanjo, Lowe, McCombe, Davies; Carson, Penn (Montrose, 79), Reed, Hayhurst; Bowman (Dickinson, 90), Fletcher (Coulson, 67). Unused substitutes: Platt, Ingham, Puri, McGurk.

Referee: C Breakspear (Weybridge).

Man of the match: John McCombe.