York City had their brief three-game unbeaten run brought to an abrupt end on Easter Monday, at the hands of Halifax Town who ran out 3-0 victors.
York City had their brief three-game unbeaten run brought to an abrupt end on Easter Monday, at the hands of Halifax Town who ran out 3-0 victors.
After piling on the pressure for the opening 24 minutes, the Shaymen were rewarded for their dominance as Milli Alli inevitably found the back of the net for a third game running, curling a wonderful strike home from distance.
The second came just after the hour mark through Mani Dieseruvwe, the striker receiving a pinpoint pass from Harvey Gilmour and slotting past Ryan Whitley to double the advantage before he claimed his brace soon after.
Town put the game to bed with twenty minutes to go - Dieseruvwe connected with another Gilmour cross to send a looping header over the 'keeper to seal the points.
York City manager Michael Morton would have loved to stick with the same lineup after an unexpected 3-1 win at Chesterfield on Good Friday, but an injury to captain and top scorer Lenell John-Lewis meant loanee Danny Rowe was reinstated into the attack.
Halifax Town equally endured a surprise 3-1 victory last week, over title-challenging Wrexham, and remained unchanged as expected.
Buoyed by the momentum of a momentous week and a healthy away following, Halifax were first to try for goal, as Mani Dieseruvwe broke forward and dragged his shot well wide from outside the box, three minutes in.
The Minstermen had also been on a decent run of late and had a good chance to open the scoring within the first ten minutes as striker Shaqai Forde caught the opposition defence half-asleep and made a move into the area before driving one across the face of goal.
Nine minutes later, Dieseruvwe looked to trouble York 'keeper Ryan Whitley once again, but similar to his earlier effort, his distanced strike was ineffective, rolling wide.
The Shaymen continued to pile on the pressure, and almost had the deadlock-breaker from a corner with the ball headed towards the target, and having beaten the 'keeper, it was down to Mitch Hancox to bail his side out and clear off the line.
But that wasn't enough to prevent the West Yorkshire outfit from eventually taking the lead on 24 minutes - picking up the ball just outside the box, in-form Milli Alli saw the prize and went for it, curling home a beautiful effort to put Halifax deservedly ahead.
City didn't look like a side in search of an instant reply from the restart and only managed to pose a threat six minutes before the break as Alex Hurst connected with a pinpoint Olly Dyson cross to head toward the bottom corner, but Sam Johnson got down well to claim.
Within a matter of seconds, Town had the ball down the other end of the pitch, and although it seemed like Whitley's instincts to rush off his line to clear the danger were safe, Jamie Cooke came out of nowhere to nick the ball however he couldn't force the empty net to bulge thanks to a heroic block from Paddy McLaughlin.
There was to be one more chance before halftime, and it would be an opportunity for York to level against the run of play, a looping effort from Hurst 20 yards out came close but so narrowly over the top.
A seemingly inspirational team talk from Morton at the break appeared to fire the City players up as they began the second half with a decent move which saw Alex Whittle get in behind but the left-back couldn't capitalize on the gilt-edged chance, shooting tame and low for Johnson to save with ease.
However, it was a very false start, as the Shaymen rapidly returned to domination, forcing a save out of Whitley at his near post.
A divisive substitution made by York just past the hour mark didn't go down too well with the home faithful, Hurst making way for Manny Duku. Yet that would be the least of their worries as a Halifax break resulted in goal number two.
A debatable foul on McLaughlin on halfway was waved away by the referee and a perfect ball over the top from Harvey Gilmour found Dieseruvwe in space and the frontman made no mistake in powering past Whitley to send the travelling supporters into delirium for a second time.
It took only another eight minutes for things to get even better in terms of the Shaymen, who added a third for the second game running. Gilmour claimed a valuable involvement combining with Dieseruvwe once more, his cross meeting the head of the forward, which magnificently looped over Whitley and into the far corner to put the visitors well out of reach.
The blow for York could have been softened with a consolation soon after getting back underway, but Mark Ellis narrowly failed to turn home a golden chance at the far post.
There was to be no stopping no Town from getting all three points over the line, and a bonus clean sheet, to complete a manic but tremendous ten days which has seen them achieve three marvellous victories to boost them further up the National League, and clear of relegation.
Though dropping into the bottom four is still a possibility for the Minstermen, who next face a trip to in-form relegation contenders Torquay.
York City: Whitley, Crookes, McLaughlin, Hurst (Duku 60’), Dyson, Forde, Whittle, Hancox (Mafuta 80’), Ellis, Duckworth, Rowe (Kouhyar 70’)
Unused subs: Campbell, Kouogun
Halifax Town: Johnson, Golden (Warburton 73’), Cappello, A. Senior, Stott, J. Senior, Hunter, Gilmour (Keane 83’), Alli (O’Rourke 76’), Cooke, Dieseruvwe