U15s Barnsley 3-1 York & District (Yorkshire Cup Rnd 2)
Date: 17th February 2024
Yorkshire Cup Round 2: Barnsley v York & District
Venue: South Elmsall
Team Lineup: Campbell White, Luca Long, Harley Waddington, Charlie Anderson, Oliver Waygood, Sam Parries, Lucas Matthews, Bodhi Justice, Harry Waines, Dara Sanusi, Ewan Daly, Finn Davis, Isaac Arif, Charlie Goodwin, Matthew Orr.
Following a convincing victory over Doncaster in the first round, York were back in action against Barnsley in the next round of the Yorkshire Cup and put in a fantastic performance where the scoreline did not reflect the way the game played out. 3-1 was very harsh on York, but also a stark reminder to the team that it’s goals that win games and York were left rueing a number of chances that could have made the outcome very different. Credit go must go to both teams for a wonderful game of football, again played in a great spirit on a fantastic facility in South Elmsall.
York started brightly and continued like this for the entire first half. With Campbell White stepping in to help out in goal this week, the team passed the ball superbly from front to back. Oliver Waygood, Luca Long and Harley Waddington found themselves in plenty of space and combined so often with Bodhi Justice and Lucas Matthews in midfield to play through the lines to create overloads and attacking opportunities. Both flanks were heavily involved in the early exchanges with Charlie Anderson and Finn Davis combining well on the left and Ewan Daly and Waygood on the right. Dara Sanusi led the line with his physical presence and power a real nuisance with Isaac Arif just behind him, linking play well.
It was Anderson that came closest in the early stages when his excellent right foot shot fired off the post, rebounding into the path of Daly who’s first time shot went wide. A great start for York and they didn’t let up. It wasn’t long before Justice broke into the box and was fouled for a penalty. Davis feeling confident from last week’s penalty volunteered to take it and found the lower left hand corner, despite the best efforts from the Barnsley keeper. 1-0 to York and they were good value for their lead. They kept up the pressure with constant pressing and combination play. A great cross from Matthews was met by Daly who’s header hit the post. Then Charlie Goodwin, replacing the ill Justice, was in on goal but shot wide. It felt like more goals were coming.
But in classic football fashion, late in the first half Barnsley forced a corner with one of their first forays into York’s half, and inevitably scored with their first meaningful chance. York were now left rueing turning their dominance on the pitch into dominance on the scoreboard. Still York rallied and continued to dominate until halftime, but all square at the break.
Changes made for the second half saw Harry Waines come into in midfield and Matthew Orr and Sam Parris on the wings. Barnsley were always going to be better in the second half, and it was they who started the brighter. They were now making regular forays into the York half, disrupting York’s short passing game and putting on the pressure. York were struggling to repeat the slick passing and movement of the first half. Campbell was far more active in goal pulling off a couple of close range saves but there was little he could do about the long range effort that gave Barnsley the lead.
This stirred York into action, and with plenty of time on the clock began to claw their way back into the game. Waines was now getting on the ball, recycling play better, Sanusi dropped into midfield and Davis was now sitting behind Goodwin trying to move the ball quicker and look for the incisive pass. Daly’s run across the box, confudes the keeper and the ball dropped to Goodwin but couldn’t get a shot away into an unguarded net. Goodwin again through, but was crowded out by the defence. Waddington burst forward from defence and tested the keeper with a stinging shot. Arif was also charging forward trying to create an equalizer. But all the game was lost with around 8 minutes on the clock when a speculative shot outside the box looped over Campbell’s head to end the contest. This was a very harsh scoreline on York, but a great lesson in the need to take the chances when on top.
This ended York’s participation in the Yorkshire Cup, but attention now turns to next Saturday’s ESFA quarter final and the remaining league games. An excellent performance, but not the result to match it.
Final Score: Barnsley 3 – 1 York & District
Scorer: Davis (pen)
