A first win of the season for York City after Michael Rankine (twice) and Richard Brodie were both on target in a well-deserved 3-0 victory over Altrincham at Bootham Crescent.
The Minstermen once again dominated for long stages until finally being rewarded with twenty minutes remaining when substitute Rankine took advantage of a lovely Michael Gash lay-off and lashed in a superb left-footed finish.
It was the first-time the home side had been in front this season and they soon celebrated that fact by adding a second just five minutes later, when Brodie showed typical determination to steal possession off Marc Joseph and the former Rotherham United defender immediately responded by bringing him down inside the area. Brodie confidently ended his recent barren run by converting the penalty.
And Rankine gave the scoreline and even more realistic look when adding his second in the final minute of added time after turning sharply on the edge of the six-yard box and beating Altrincham goalkeeper Stuart Coburn at his near post.
Earlier York manager Martin Foyle had given a full debut to ex-Walsall winger Peter Till, who replaced Jonathan Smith in an otherwise unchanged side. Former Robins defender Greg Young was named on the bench.
And after Matt Crowell had forced Michael Ingham into an early save with an ambitious effort from around 45-yards, it was the jinking Till soon making a decent impression with a couple of clever runs down the right before Gash left several defenders trailing in his slipstream and fired over the crossbar. York then had the ball in the net just before the half-hour when Brodie smashed home from an offside position after Alex Lawless had seen an effort deflected.
Meanwhile, Altrincham’s Kevin Holsgrove was continuing to irate home fans as he twice escaped a caution for deliberately shoving opponents before his side had a rare chance of their own when Joseph couldn’t sort out his feet after James Meredith had conceded a corner.
Anthony Danylyk also forced Ingham into action from long distance, but it was York who were well on top and almost went ahead as Lawless curled a free-kick against the top of the right-hand upright six minutes before the break. Gash then drilled wide of the near post after Chris Carruthers and Till linked up during a gloriously constructed attack.
The hosts dominance continued as Djoumin Sangare was soon surging forward for them early in the second-half before drilling a right-footed attempt wide of Coburn’s right-hand post, while Gash cleared the crossbar again after Lawless had cleverly nicked possession.
The Minstermen then made their first change as Rankine replaced Carruthers, who had taken a knock just before the interval. And substitute Rankine soon crossed for Brodie to glance wide of the near post before York finally broke the deadlock on 70 minutes when Rankine drilled an excellent 23-yard drive beyond Coburn.
Within five minutes their lead was doubled as Brodie converted a penalty after being brought down by Joseph before Gash almost scored a well-deserved third when nearly turning in a fierce Rankine cross-shot after a superb Lawless break.
But the York fans didn’t have to wait for long and once Brodie had flicked over the bar moments after failing to set-up unmarked substitute Smith, it was the bustling Rankine claiming his third of the season with a firm close-range finish after accepting Brodie’s pass deep into added time.
York City: Ingham, Parslow, McGurk, Sangare, Meredith, Till (Smith 82), Barrett, Lawless, Carruthers (Rankine 58), Gash, Brodie
subs (unused): Courtney, Young, McDermott
Goals: Rankine (70, 90), Brodie (75 pen)
Altrincham: Coburn, Smith, Joseph, Williams, Brown, Welch (Twiss 75), Densmore, Holsgrove, Danylyk (McCready 81), Crowell, Reeves (Johnson 63)
subs (unused): Coates, Holmes
Ref: R. Clark (Morpeth)
Att: 2,095 (110 Altrincham)
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