York City manager Martin Foyle was in buoyant mood following the narrow defeat at Blue Square Premier champions Stevenage Borough.
The Minstermen only went down to a 1-0 reversal after David Bridges took advantage of a mix-up between the recalled Danny Parslow and Josh Mimms ten minutes before the break.
But York rallied well after the interval and had most of the play as their opponents rather sat back on their advantage, which was sufficient to leave Foyle more than content with the overall application of his side.
“The performance was excellent,” he told BBC Radio York. “We contained them to one goal, which was our mistake, and one half-chance. We just need to be probably a little bit more ruthless with that last cross, that last pass in the final third.
“But we totally dominated the game, there was a lot of positives to take from my point of view today,” Foyle continued. “There were so many good things, the lads worked very, very hard. We got stuck in, we got amongst them. I enjoyed the game but I didn’t enjoy the result.”
The York boss decided upon a major tactical switch before the game that witnessed Michael Rankine leading their attack on his own and relying on support arriving from midfield.
However, Foyle confirmed that his main focus had been protecting leading scorer Richard Brodie, who reverted to the bench and only appeared as a late substitute.
“It was more a case of just keeping Richard Brodie out of the way,” he added. “I just wanted to make sure we didn’t have any problems coming into Thursday.”
And with a play-off semi-final against Luton Town now confirmed, Foyle was in fighting mood at the prospect of two classic games against them.
“Believe me with the support we had today and the performance, bring on Luton Town,” he rallied. “I’m so glad that we will be at home first because I know they will be under massive pressure in the second-leg at their place.”
Vital Fact: York City signed Robbie Matthews from Luton for £90,000 in Sept 95
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