Match Report: York City 1-0 Doncaster Rovers

In preparation for their Vanarama National League season in over two weeks' time, York City secured a 1-0 friendly win over League Two outfit Doncaster Rovers.

It was Maziar Kouhyar's second goal of pre-season, a simple header in the second half, which clinched it for the Minstermen.

But they were handed more work to do, forced down to ten men with twenty minutes to play, after Thierry Latty-Fairweather was bizarrely shown a second yellow card by the referee.

Story of the match
In comparison to the trio of pre-season fixtures that had been played prior to this one, York City encountered a slightly less pleasant opening against their Yorkshire rivals, as the game set itself up for a feisty contest.

The first shot came on thirteen minutes, falling to Doncaster inside the six-yard box after the ball bounced over the City defence. With Joseph Olowu looking destined to score with his first swing at it, ex-Premier League goalkeeper David Stockdale made his presence known with an impressive face-block.

The chances weren’t just limited to one end though, as Minstermen striker Cedric Main managed to break through the middle, his eventual close-range effort was well stopped by Ian Lawlor in the Rovers’ goal.

Seconds later, the Doncaster defence was almost deceived once again by a run down the left-hand side from Thierry Latty-Fairweather, as it ended in a fierce low shot from a tight angle being diverted away by the stopper.

Opportunities kept on coming for City, and this time it was another full-back, Ryan Fallowfield, on the end of it, knocking it along the byline and forcing the ‘keeper to turn behind - the resulting corner almost provided the first goal, had the uprights been positioned slightly more to the right.

The visitors did get a good chance inside the area before the referee brought the first 45 minutes to a close, but it was one that wasn’t to be taken as a header flew wide of Stockdale’s sticks.

The main talking point at the halfway point was probably the antics of referee Marc Edwards, who had already dished out a couple of yellow cards, an unlikely sight for a pre-season friendly.

The second period kicked off with Doncaster the better of the two teams, creating an early chance within twenty seconds of the restart which ultimately came to nothing, courtesy of some excellent defensive work by City’s centre-halves.

It wasn’t too long before the crowd were on their feet, but for all the wrong reasons, protesting in harmony with the coaching staff against a third yellow card, against Latty-Fairweather.

A lot of the action in this half seemed to be occurring down the end which Doncaster were attacking, and it remained that way, with a dangerous free kick awarded to Rovers, however, the set-piece did not go to plan at all.

Kyle Hurst put his skill on show shortly after, getting away from his marker down the wing and flinging a shot goalward at the final stage, only to watch it drift across the face.

Eight minutes later, both sides proceeded to make a host of changes to their original lineup: for the Minstermen, just three of the starters remained on the field which were Stockdale, Latty-Fairweather, and Finlay Barnes.

Donny opted to switch up their whole eleven, with a more youthful side on to play the final half hour, including ex-City academy graduate Jack Degruchy.

Not even a couple of minutes later, the opening goal arrived, and it was mostly down to poor set-piece defending from Rovers.

Michael Duckworth’s corner from the left was easily met by the head of Maziar Kouhyar, who nodded down into the bottom corner as his opposing markers remained as still as a statue inside their own penalty area.

With the Minstermen a bit more fired up, the momentum had certainly shifted over to them, but Olly Dyson’s attempt to double the advantage was amiss, as the fan favourite just couldn’t keep his volley down.

While Michael Morton was preparing yet another change for the hosts down on the touchline, the referee bizarrely made the decision to show a second yellow card to Latty-Fairweather, the player who was very shortly due to be coming off, and was given his marching orders with twenty minutes still remaining.

Planning to see the match out with ten men, Duckworth’s eyes were fully set on making it two from a free kick directly in front of the target, however, he was agonizingly denied by the inside of the post.

A rare spell in the opposite half almost caused problems for the backline, but Tyler Roberts’ wayward shot was never going to trouble the vastly-experienced Stockdale.

Referee Edwards continued to dampen the evening with the fourth yellow card, this time to Degruchy of Donny, before indicating an extra five minutes to be added, which wasn’t well-received by many, unsurprisingly.

Eventually, the final whistle blew and the Minstermen could mark down their second victory of pre-season, and manager Morton didn’t hold back on his complaints against the man in the middle.

Speaking to Jorvik Radio post-match, he said: “It was frustrating. I thought they put the players at risk a little bit there.”

York City: Stockdale, Fallowfield (Duckworth 58’), Crookes (Cordner 58’), Sanders (Howe 58’), Latty-Fairweather, Trialist A (Pybus 58’), McLaughlin (C) (Hancox 58’), Burgess (Dyson 58’), Barnes (Trialist B 90'), Main (John-Lewis 58’), Siziba (Kouhyar 58’)

Subs not used: Campbell

Goals: Kouhyar (62’)

Yellow Cards: Burgess, Sanders, Latty-Fairweather

Red Cards: Latty-Fairweather

Doncaster Rovers: Lawlor (Bottomley 60’), Olowu (Miller 60’), Wood (Taylor 60’), Sterry (Biggins 60’), Maxwell (Long 60’), Close (Bailey 60’), Broadbent (Roberts 60’), Sotona (Allen 60’), Rowe (Faulkner 60’), Hurst (Degruchy 60’), Ironside (Molyneux 60’)

Subs not used: Watson, Flint, Wood, Kuleya, Goodman

Yellow Cards: Degruchy