LUCKLESS City of York Men I were denied victory in dramatic fashion against Southport on Saturday.

They looked as through they were going to bag maximum Northern Hockey League premier division maximum points, but the Lancashire visitors made it 2-2 with seconds remaining.

That put the tin lid on a frustrating afternoon for a much-changed York side who raced in to an early lead through Fozzie Foster.

With just ten minutes gone Matt Couttie made it 2-0 with a drag flick at a short corner.

City were enjoying a purple patch with Peter Richardson, Nick Carter and Couttie superb in defence while Ashley Waytson in goal made some fine saves.

But it all started to go wrong just before the interval when Foster shot into the top corner of the Southport goal. The ball broke the netting and hit the perimeter fence. After much consideration the umpires ruled no goal.

Southport pulled a goal back from a short corner but York, with Foster having an excellent game, carried the extra threat.

More drama unfolded when York were awarded a short corner and Couttie delivered a drag-flick that beat the goalkeeper but again broke through the net and yet another goal was disallowed.

To add insult to injury, Southport nicked a point at the death with an equaliser.

It was a similar story for City of York II who lost 3-0 at LA Metros I.

Rob Anderson missed an early chance for York, then Chris Dutton was denied by a fine save.

Metros got their noses in front by the interval but York continued to pile on the pressure, with Lee Cuffe twice denied by the net-minder and three chances created by Dave Brooks also went begging.

With York committed to all-out attack, Metros pounced on the break to score twice more.

Two short corner strikes by Graham Cook and goals from Matt Todd and Richard Cockram earned City of York III a 4-2 win at Rotherham II in Yorkshire League division one.

It was just reward for York, who played their best hockey of the season.

City of York IV had a field day at Imphal Barracks against King Cross I, winning 9-0.

Andy Wilson led the goal glut with four goals, the others coming from Sam Blackburn (2), Laurence Thornton, Simon Casterton and Adam Tomes. David Horn in York's goal touched the ball just twice.

City of York V struggled to cope with a classy Bradford II side in division five and lost 4-1 at home. David da Silva netted the York goal.

Les Read (2) and Greg Sykes were on target as City of York VI beat Wakefield V 3-0 in division seven. Nathan Sorby was excellent in the nets for York while Ben Millson excelled in defence.

Syngenta I edged out City of York VII with the only goal of their division eight game.

Sean Welsh gave City of York VIII the lead at Wakefield VI but they lost 3-1 despite a great display in defence by Danny Turton. City of York Veterans lost 1-0 to Southport Veterans 1-0.

Updated: 09:40 Tuesday, January 18, 2005