York City 0, Cheltenham 2

Unless a dramatic improvement is made upon Saturday's 2-0 home surrender against Cheltenham, Chris Brass' class of 2004 appear poised to mark the 75th-anniversary of the club's Football League status and the 20th-anniversary of the glorious record-breaking Division Four championship side by dropping into non-League football.

Trips to the likes of Crawley, Forest Green and Margate beckon as, with four games to go, the Minstermen seem to require three wins to guarantee safety.

A minimum of two triumphs might be enough but, having failed to taste victory in their last 16 matches and only scored once in six, the omens for a great escape are not looking good.

Third-bottom Rochdale moved three points clear of City on Saturday and although the Bootham Crescent club have a game in hand, the gap is effectively four points because of an inferior goal difference of 19.

Four points is the sum total of City's haul during a sorry 16-game sequence that will reach record-equalling proportions if victory is not achieved against Yeovil tomorrow night.

Standards will certainly need to be better as mid-table Cheltenham took maximum points when a diplomatic draw would have appeared readily acceptable to John Ward - the ex-Minstermen boss and former mentor for Brass who has no desire to see the club where he cut his managerial teeth relegated to the Conference.

But even sides seemingly unconcerned whether they get one point or three struggle to avoid victory when the opposition concedes an own goal and a penalty.

The visitors took a 59th-minute lead when assistant-manager Lee Nogan crashed an attempted clearance into the roof of his own net despite being surrounded by apparently mute team-mates with no Cheltenham players in the immediate vicinity.

Goalkeeper Mark Ovendale then got the ball trapped under his foot in stoppage time and was dispossessed by Paul Brayson before dragging the Robins striker down for an offence that not only merited a penalty but also a red card and a one-match ban.

With all three permitted home substitutes made, City skipper Darren Edmondson donned the gloves that Ovendale had hurled away in disgust but was beaten from the spot by Brayson.

The two calamitous errors were clearly responsible for defeat but City also failed to replicate the attacking verve they had displayed against Bury in midweek.

That performance suggested Brass' side could find the goals to steer the club away from danger but Liam George was unable to show the same inspirational form that had illuminated his return on Tuesday night and Edmondson's forages down the right flank were few and far between.

The closest City came to a goal was a Richard Hope header cleared off the line by Northern Ireland international Grant McCann on the half-hour mark.

But City did not create enough chances from open play, especially during a listless second half in which Brass made an early departure because of a hip injury.

The frustrating factor was that too few City players appeared to be fighting for their livelihoods and the club's proud Football League status.

An even first half saw cultured midfielder McCann sting Ovendale's hands on nine minutes before Hope went close at the other end.

Jamie Victory then headed off target and, on the stroke of half-time, Nogan missed a similar opportunity having failed to make proper contact on Dunning's cross.

Nogan then broke the deadlock 14 minutes into the second half when Robins striker Damian Spencer rose to head down McCann's corner. City's player-coach tried to collect the ball but hammered his attempted clearance into the roof of the net despite the presence of at least three team-mates on the goal-line.

It was the most costly of a series of hurried clearances from panic-stricken and nervous City players.

Nogan tried to make amends by tumbling in the box under a challenge from Shane Duff but referee Carl Boyeson waved away hopeful penalty appeals.

The 33-year-old striker then headed over a corner from substitute Mitch Ward on 68 minutes, which appeared to be the home side's last goal attempt until Leigh Wood fired over from 15 yards in the second minute of injury time.

At the other end, Brayson fired four good chances wastefully at Ovendale before being given his chance to beat emergency stand-in Edmondson from the spot.

McCann's low drive was also palmed around a post by Ovendale as Cheltenham finished the game in the ascendancy.

York City 0; Cheltenham 2 (Nogan og 59, Brayson pen 90)

Ovendale 6, Wise 6, Smith 6, Hope 6, Edmondson 5, Brass 6 (Ward 50, 5), Wood 6, Dunning 6, Nogan 5 (Cooper 76), Newby 6, George 6 (Bell 62, 5) Subs not used: Porter, Law.

Key: 10 Faultless, 9 Outstanding, 8 Excellent, 7 Eye-catching, 6 Good, 5 Average, 4 Below-par, 3 Dud, 2 Hopeless, 1 Retire

Star Man: Newby - movement was good but end product could have been better.

Cheltenham: Shane Higgs, Jerry Gill (Antony Griffin, 55), Michael Duff, Shane Duff, Brian Wilson, Jamie Victory, John Finnigan, Grant McCann (Graham Fyfe, 90), David Bird, Damian Spencer (Kayode Odejayi, 68), Paul Brayson. Subs not used: Steve Book, Bob Taylor.

Yellow cards: Finnigan 28, Odejayi 72.

Red cards: Ovendale 90.

Referee: Carl Boyeson (East Yorkshire) Rating: Strange performance, highlighted by a decision to throw a late drop ball to the Cheltenham 'keeper, denying City any advantage at a time when the home team could not afford sporting gestures.

Attendance: 3,221

Weather watch: Mild with bright spells.

Game breaker: Nogan's own goal damaged morale and confidence.

Match rating: Creating one chance in the last 30 minutes is unacceptable from a side whose Football League status is at stake.

Updated: 11:18 Monday, April 19, 2004