CITY of York men’s III were 4-1 winners over basement side Huddersfield Dragons III in Yorkshire Hockey League division two.

The Minster city side gained no reward for a good performance as they were defeated at Wakefield the previous week, but they took three points at home to Huddersfield despite not being at their best.

The hosts struggled at the start, with little evidence of the slick passing and movement from the Wakefield clash.

York still enjoyed the better of the possession without finding the killer ball to open the scoring, while Huddersfield were limited to a few hopeful balls to their forwards.

It took York 25 minutes to find their flow and some neat one-two passing resulted in a brilliant finish from Ben Foster.

Huddersfield were awarded a penalty corner only five minutes later and, although the first shot was saved, the ball rebounded back to the same player and his second effort went in off a York defender.

Despite the setback, City of York responded instantly from the push back.

Good passing and movement saw York attack down the baseline with Andrew Pooley and his superb pass found Chris Dutton, who despatched past the Huddersfield goalkeeper to secure a 2-1 lead on the stroke of half-time.

York started the second half better than the first, but Huddersfield remained strong and kept them at bay for the first ten to 15 minutes.

Midway through the half fine movement and passing found Foster in the ‘D’ and his first-time strike fizzed past the diving ’keeper to take it to 3-1.

York put the match to bed five minutes later with Tim Lister getting on the scoresheet. A scramble in the ‘D’ saw the ball bounce close to the ’keeper and defender, and Lister pounced and smashed the ball into the roof of the net.

City of York IV were undone by two goals and an assist from a one-time North League premier division player as they lost 5-4 at Leeds Adel III in division three.

York dominated large parts of the game and were unfortunate to go in at half-time 3-1 down.

They fought back bravely in the second half to draw level at 3-3, including a Greg Sykes penalty flick earned by Danny Vaughan.

City of York then conceded two further soft goals, but fought back to 5-4 and forced a rocking Adel to play hide-the-ball in the corner for the last few minutes.

Sykes scored a second goal to add to a brace from Phil Hughes.

A terrific first-half performance was undone as City of York V saw a 2-0 half-time lead at Bradford University turn into a 3-2 defeat in division four north.

York claimed a deserved half-time lead thanks to two Nick Carter goals from short corners.

York were organised, disciplined and hard working, and absorbed a lot of pressure, restricting the opposition to a handful of chances.

However, on ten minutes, Bradford were awarded a flick and took the lead.

There was an element of luck with Bradford’s second and third goals as York’s under-strength team failed to get the rewards they deserved.

Carter was yellow-carded in the dying minutes after he pointed out an umpiring error.

In the same division, City of York VI crashed 3-1 at home to Mirfield I.

York started very well and Henry Wilson scored a fine individual goal, but Mirfield levelled with a scrappy goal just before half-time.

The hosts failed to settle in the second half, and Mirfield took the lead from a short corner.

The third goal was a break away as York were pushing for an equaliser.

Mark Turner and Tony Neeve turned in good displays for City.

City of York VII had a bad day at the office as they lost 3-0 to Leeds Adel IV in division five north.

A poor performance put paid to any chance of a York victory, although Matt Marshall and Andy Gray were outstanding in defence.

City of York VIII paid the price for a sluggish start as they lost 4-2 to Tadcaster Magnets II in division six north.

Sloppy defending allowed Tadcaster to race into a commanding 4-1 lead at half-time, with Adam Iyer scoring a fine individual goal in reply for the hosts.

York regrouped at half-time, sorting out their shape and defensive play, and went on to boss the remainder of the game.

The unrelenting pressure forced Tadcaster to concede an own goal, but the home team were unable to convert any further chances.

A goal ten seconds from time consigned City of York Badgers to a 3-2 defeat at home to Airedale.

Airedale started well and deservedly led 1-0 at half-time after some sustained pressure.

York upped the tempo in the second half and started to control the midfield, with Morgan Thomas excellent on his first start of the season.

The hosts finally got their reward when Jack Fletcher converted a penalty flick.

Ben Mould extended the lead soon after, while Alice Birchall and Lauren Morton both went close. Airedale equalised and, despite a lot of pressure, York were unable to regain the lead.

The visitors then snatched the winning goal against the run of play.