As it happened: York City lose their first game at the LNER Community Stadium

So it’s defeat for City in their debut game here. They played well for half an hour in the second half after Sean Newton equalised and it only looked like they would go on to get a second. That suckapunch freekick from Haughton really sucked the tempo out of City though and AFC Fylde come away full value for their victory.

Sean Newton picks up the official club man of the match award, which is about right for his contribution to a spirited come back attempt in the second half.

Two 30-yard freekicks from Nick Haughton and a George Sampson opener see AFC Fylde through to a comfortable victory and York start life in the new LNER Community Stadium with a disappointing 3-1 defeat.

Big chance for City. Redshaw twists and turns down the right and is tripped by Perkins to win a freekick. Newton bends a dangerous set piece to the back post where Redshaw was lurking, but his volley flies over. 1-2

Harry Bunn puts a low cross into the area, which is cleared to Burke, who is then clattered by Bunn and a freekick is given. Bunn goes over to either apologise or show his discontent with the reaction… but the physio has entered the field now.

The two sides are out and the second half begins with City shooting right to left. Big half for the Minstermen this.

Although the two sides sharing a good amount of chances, it’s this man Tollitt that has given City a whole load of problems down this left hand side. Duckworth has battled and will need to continue doing so against a player clearly in the mood tonight.

The Minstermen grace the field in their traditional red and navy blue strip and we’re ready top go!

It’s set to be a slippery start to City’s Community Stadium journey tonight… let’s hope that’s just because of the weather and not the result!

Fortunately we have a lovely roof over our commentary position!

• When AFC Fylde were founded in 2008 after a name change from Kirkham & Wesham FC, they were 4 divisions below York who were a Conference Premier club at the time. 10 years later, City suffered relegation to the 6^th tier for the first time ever and were overtaken by tonight’s opponents who gained promotion to the 5^th tier – also for the first time in their history.

• York are unbeaten at home this season, winning 4 and drawing 2 of their 6 games in all competitions at Bootham Crescent this year. AFC Fylde meanwhile have lost 4 out of 12 away games in all competitions.

• AFC Fylde are ahead of York in terms of goals per game, holding an average of 1.90 goals per match as opposed to 1.67 for City. The two sides are near on even in terms of goals against, with Fylde conceding 1.15 per game, and York conceding 1.20.

• York captain and top scorer Sean Newton is the highest scoring defender in the league with 6 goals to his name. It’s a tally matched by AFC Fylde’s top scoring midfielder Ben Tollitt.

City manager Steve Watson hopes tonight will be ‘the first of many great days’ as York prepare to start their journey in a new home.

Although tonight is technically a home fixture, there are no fans, and the pitch poses new environs for both teams. Watson was reluctant to make a prediction on how his side might take to the new surroundings, but admitted the stadium was a big draw for himself and many of his summer signings:

“It’s a completely unique experience. We’re going into a new stadium that should, for all intents and purposes, give us a home advantage, but none of us have been there, none of us have been on the pitch, we’ve not had a training session on there.”

“The stadium just became part of the overall package of a fantastic opportunity. The stadium, the size of the club, the city itself and the fanbase, it was all a great project for a youngish manager to take on.”

“For a lot of these players who came in the summer, the stadium was a big draw to them as well. They’re all massively looking forward to it.

“There are two or three York lads in there as well – Woodsy (Michael Woods), Ducky (Michael Duckworth), Rob Guilfoyle and a couple of the goalies, they know the history of York and they’ve been waiting on this as long as the fans have. They’re fans themselves so they’ll be dying to get going in the new stadium.”

Sam Osborne and Nick Haughton come in to start for AFC Fylde and Wigan loan signing Emeka Obi starts on the bench after the defender signed on an emergency basis for the Coasters today.

The headline for York is that loan signings Jason Gilchrist (on loan from South Shields) and Gabby McGill (on loan from Dunfermline) lead the line for City today.

York Team to play AFC Fylde: Jameson, Duckworth, Tinkler, Brown, Newton (c), Barrow, Woods, McLaughlin, Bunn, McGill, Gilchrist

SUBS: Whitley, Kennedy, Dyson, Cassidy, Redshaw

It feels like a century since the Minstermen last put ball to foot in a competitive fixture – a 2-2 draw away at Kidderminster on January 5^th initiated a long list of fixture cancellations due to either COVID issues, including a 2-week league suspension, or as a result of treacherous weather conditions symptomatic for this time of year.

It means York have only played 12 of 42 scheduled league games, a joint lowest amount… And it’s February!

The wait for a football match dwarfs that of the delays to York’s stadium move. The Minstermen have flirted with a move away from their beloved Bootham Crescent for almost two decades, with council stoppages, car park hitches, and drainage issues contributing to a mountain of problems holding back the handover of stadium keys.   

A win tonight in a first ever meeting with Lancashire side AFC Fylde would send them into the playoff places despite playing less games than every team inside the top seven.

It will have to be well earned against a tough AFC Fylde side, who sit third in the league but like City, haven’t played a competitive fixture for over a month, so any conversation of form is out of the window!