JUST as one step forward is made in York City's bid for Division Three safety, it appears to be followed by three giant strides back.

Having fought impressively to hold Torquay in their previous game, an unchanged City side surrendered three points meekly to fellow strugglers Bristol Rovers in much the same fashion as a well-earned draw at Oxford was followed by a thumping 4-1 defeat against Kidderminster earlier this month.

Minstermen supporters will be hoping this alarming trend is rectified immediately if their side are to avoid placing one foot in the Nationwide Conference.

Saturday's setback saw Chris Brass' men drop to 21st in the table with Rochdale now the only club between City and the dreaded drop zone, meaning next weekend's home match against second-bottom Macclesfield and a possible reunion with Jon Parkin has become hugely significant.

City would move seven points clear of the Macc lads if they can end a run of 12 games without a victory on Sunday but defeat would reduce the gap to a single point.

The Minstermen must avoid that eventuality at all costs and it would no doubt help if an atmosphere can be generated at Bootham Crescent akin to the one that spurred Bristol Rovers on to their first win in 11 attempts on Saturday.

The bombastic start to the afternoon sparked by the enthusiastic PA announcer reached a crescendo when new joint caretaker managers Russell Osman and Kevan Broadhurst were welcomed on to the pitch with the five new signings who all debuted against City.

Two of the new boys - Danny Williams and Ally Gibb - made the scoresheet and, unfortunately for City, the post-deadline day Pirates team is certainly a tougher proposition than the pre-deadline version.

Osman once famously appeared as an extra in the 1970s' epic Escape to Victory and the former Ipswich and England defender looks ready to guide his new troops to safety after this win.

City, meanwhile, are now firmly in the Third Division's relegation equation.

Conceding two goals from free-kicks and a third just 56 seconds after the interval smacked of a lack of defensive concentration that Brass will hope to correct with his return from suspension.

Equally as worrying was City's failure to muster a single shot until Richard Offiong's speculative 25-yard drive on 47 minutes, by which time the visitors trailed by three goals.

There was little creativity from wide positions where the chronically under-used David Merris was virtually anonymous on the left side of midfield, while Leigh Wood struggled to make an impact on the opposite flank.

City's young guns are apparently struggling for consistency and the availability of experienced quartet Brass, Darren Edmondson, Mitch Ward and Kevin Donovan could prove vital in the club's eight-game run-in.

And one of Brass' first tasks on his return from suspension will be to improve his side's defending of set-pieces.

Chris Smith was penalised for a foul on home striker Lee Thorpe after 18 minutes on Saturday. From the subsequent free-kick Gary Twigg rolled the ball back to Gibb, who enjoyed an alarming amount of time and space inside the box only for his low drive to strike Stuart Wise.

But former Kidderminster midfielder Williams latched on to the rebound to fire a low drive into the bottom right-hand corner of Chris Porter's net.

Two minutes later, Smith conceded another free-kick just inside City's half and, as Wise received treatment for a head injury, home captain Adam Barrett stole in between Richard Hope and Merris to head past Porter from eight yards.

The two efforts were Rovers' first attempts of the game and, against a City team that has failed to score three times in any single match this season, wrapped up victory far too easily.

City's only first half threat came from three successive Darren Dunning corners which were all dealt with comfortably by the dominant Rovers defence.

Rovers added a third goal in their first second half raid when Junior Agogo and Thorpe combined to release the overlapping Gibb, whose 15-yard angled drive beat Porter with the aid of a deflection off the unlucky Hope.

On-loan Newcastle striker Offiong offered a glimpse of his England Under-20 credentials by flashing a long-range effort wide and then forcing Kevin Miller into his only save of the afternoon with a sidefooted shot after substitute Jon Newby crossed from the left.

But it was the Pirates who went closest to adding to the scoreline on 79 minutes when Hope headed Twigg's attempted lob off the line.

City's teenage substitute Matthew Coad sent a 20-yard effort bouncing harmlessly wide in injury time and any hope of a consolation was lost.

Match Facts:

Saturday, March 27, 2004

at Memorial Ground

Bristol Rovers 3

(Williams 18, Barrett 20, Gibb 46)

York City 0

City ratings:

Porter 5

Wise 5

Smith 4

Hope 5

Wood 4

Cooper 4

Dunning 6

Merris 4

Bell 4 (Newby 50, 5)

Nogan 4 (Yalcin 78)

Offiong 5 (Coad 88)

Subs not used: Ovendale, Davies.

Star Man: Dunning - showed graft and a bit of craft in an otherwise poor City display

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

Bristol Rovers: Kevin Miller, Christian Ed-wards, John Anderson, Adam Barrett, Kevin Austin, Ally Gibb, Aaron Lescott, Danny Williams, Gary Twigg (Rob Quinn, 87), Lee Thorpe (Paul Tait, 78), Junior Agogo (Bo Henriksen, 67). Subs not used: Ryan Clarke, Ryan Williams.

Yellow cards: Offiong 54, Cooper 56, Austin 56, Thorpe 57, Dunning 57, Smith 64, Twigg 83.

Red cards: None

Referee: Grant Hegley (Herts).

Rating: Appeared to be influenced by the home crowd but had no bearing on the result.

Attendance: 6,723

Weather watch: Overcast but mild.

Game breaker: Bristol Rovers' second goal in as many minutes was a blow City did not recover from.

Match rating: Easy win for Bristol Rovers as City perform poorly.

Player watch: Chris Porter

Crosses caught: 5

Crosses punched: 1

Crosses dropped: 0

Throws to own player: 0

Throws to opposition: 0

Shots faced: 6

Shots saved: 2

Save success rate: 33.3 per cent

Kicks to own player: 4

Kicks to opposition: 33

Kick success rate: 12.1 per cent

Final summary: The best aspect of Chris Porter's game on Saturday was his handling with five out of the six crosses he faced caught and the other one punched, although that led to a Gary Twigg lob that had to be cleared off the line by Richard Hope. Porter will be less pleased with his low shot stopping rate even though he was not blatantly at fault for any of the three he conceded.The CIty 'keeper also regularly found an opposition defender's head with his goal-kicks as the home side dominated in the air but there were few other targets to aim for and options were limited with visiting players lacking the confidence to scream for the ball short or in wider areas.However, the former Darlington 'keeper will be disappointed by the handful of occasions when he failed to make a clean contact with his kicks, which could have led to greater damage.

Updated: 10:12 Monday, March 29, 2004