ON trial shot-stopper Steve Croudson is keeping his fingers crossed that justice will prevail.

The former Grimsby Town goalkeeper featured for almost 80 minutes last night as City were beaten 5-0 by Sunderland in their opening pre-season friendly.

Croudson endured a tough start as Sunderland scored after just 20 seconds then made it 2-0 within the opening eight minutes.

However, he then pulled off a number of fine stops, none better than a finger-tip save to deny a Sean Thornton effort from distance that was arrowed for the top corner.

Now the 23-year-old is hoping he's done enough to earn a permanent contract to stay at Bootham Crescent.

"I just hope I've done myself justice and I can get the number one shirt which I really want," he told the Evening Press.

"It was a good game for me to be involved in.

"It is always nice to get out there and play, especially against a team like Sunderland and in front of a decent crowd.

"Overall, I was fairly happy but there were a couple of things I thought I could have done better.

"But you can never be happy with your overall game and it has given me things to work on."

Croudson hailed City's new management team in player-boss Chris Brass and his assistant, Lee Nogan, and the club's facilities.

"It has been really good and the training ground is first class," he said.

"Both the gaffer and Lee have been brilliant with me and the atmosphere at the club is great. You can't ask for anything more than that."

Brass, who figured in the full 90 minutes, played in a back three last night alongside Jordan and Stuart Wise to start with.

MATCH DETAILS

York City 0 Sunderland 5

City: Croudson (Stockdale 78), Cooper (Law 60), Evans (Green 51), Wise (Wood 60), Jordan (Davies 78), Fox (Arthur 79), Brass, Bullock (Brackstone 68), Wilford (Nogan 68), George (McKenzie 85), Dunning (McCabe 85) Sub, not used: Smith

Sunderland: Ingham, Wright (Scott 65), Gray (James 71), Thornton (Dickman 74), Craddock (Collins 71), Clark, Oster, Whitley, Kyle (Proctor 61), Stewart (Flo 61), Butler. Subs, not used: Poom

Scorers: Oster 1, Thornton 8, Kyle 52, Whitley 74, James 82

Referee: Alan Kaye (Wakefield)

Attendance: 3,082

Updated: 11:08 Thursday, July 17, 2003