ONE-TIME York City defensive rock Ricky Sbragia was thrust into the glare of extra-terrestrial television this week.

The two-match touchline ban imposed on Sir Alex Ferguson consigned the Manchester United boss to a seat in the stands at Elland Road for the Carling Cup tie against Leeds.

In a pre-match interview when asked how he would communicate with his bench, he quipped 'carrier pigeon' before revealing he had his reserve team coach with him.

Enter Sbragia. The man who excelled as a centre-back sentinel for the Minstermen during the mid-1980s was several times screened in deep conversation with Fergie during the live broadcast as the knight of Old Trafford plotted the downfall of Leeds.

FORMER York City striker Alex Mathie might have scaled the Premiership heights as a Newcastle United player but he is not looking forward to a high-flying experience next Saturday.

Mathie, who now coaches City's under-14 academy team, will be doing a sponsored parachute jump to raise money for Wilberfoss Maver-icks under-10s football side.

His son, Craig, also a forward, plays for Wilberfoss and recently hit a hat-trick in a 14-0 win.

Mathie will join another parent, Lee Winspear, for the jump near Scunthorpe and the pair hope to raise £2,000.

"I am frightened of heights," admitted Mathie this week. "I am panicking a bit about actually hanging out of the plane and won't be getting much sleep over the next week.

"I always had nervous energy as a player but once I was on the pitch I was okay. Making my debut for Newcastle was probably the worst I ever was but this will be much harder.

"At least it's for a good cause and I will be putting something back into the community for the kids."

Anybody wishing to support Alex can give him a call on 07973 986106.

York City will have to wait until next week to learn if they will be disciplined over the bottle-throwing incident that marred last month's home clash with Boston.

A call to the FA on Tuesday revealed "the person who usually deals with bottle throwing is on holiday until Monday" and the matter would be dealt with then. He could be a busy man on his return to Soho, with the incident involving Leeds striker Alan Smith at least doubling his workload.

Updated: 10:20 Saturday, November 01, 2003