York City's new goalkeeping hero Michael Ingham confessed to using his head as he helped York City to their first clean sheet in 11 attempts at Hull.

The Northern Ireland Under-21 international filled the considerable void left by the departure of Alan Fettis to the Tigers with an accomplished performance in Saturday's scoreless stalemate.

And he earned the acclaim of City's massive travelling support at the Kingston Communications Stadium on 51 minutes with a superb reflex save to deny Hull's Jamie Forrester from point-blank range.

It was a defining moment in the clash but Ingham later confessed to the Evening Press his save had an element of good fortune.

"It was a situation where I just made myself as big as possible and I went early," he said.

"Lucky enough, it smacked me straight in my face so I was lucky I didn't break my nose."

Ingham, signed on a month's loan from Sunderland, only met up with his new team-mates 24 hours before the game.

But already the 22-year-old has savoured the grit and determination that has not only seen City cope with the club's off-field problems but also taken the team back into the play-off places.

"I've not been here long but they are a good bunch of lads and there seems to be a great spirit and we easily deserved a point," he said.

"I thought we defended well and I only really had two saves to make.

"One was quite crucial but overall I think we had the better chances to win it."

Ingham, who also had a spell on loan at Darlington earlier in the season, sees no reason why City cannot maintain their promotion push.

"If we keep on playing like that there's no reason why we can't get in the play-offs," he reasoned.

"We looked nice and solid, nice and strong, and there's a nice blend of experience and youth."

Ingham confessed he had no hesitation in coming to City once the opportunity arose, and admitted he was taking his lead from City's former Sunderland loan star Michael Proctor.

"Proc always speaks highly of the place and comes down whenever he can.

"But he's doing well for himself so hopefully the same can happen for me.

"If I can do a good job here and go back to Sunderland then things might go for me."

He added: "That's why I've come here. To get League experience and to play in games like that.

"I want to show people what I can do rather than being sat up at Sunderland gathering cobwebs. And I want to put myself in the shop window if things don't happen for me at Sunderland."

Dolan was delighted with the performance of his new goalkeeper, who replaced Alan Fettis following his move to Hull. Fettis had to be content with a place on the Tigers' bench on Saturday.

"That's our first clean sheet for a long time, so that maybe tells you something," said the City boss.

"And the fact Hull kept a clean sheet tells you maybe Fettis won't get into their team for a while."

Dolan was also full of praise for City's travelling band of supporters who roared on the Minstermen from start to finish. It was estimated there were between 1,500 and 2,000 York supporters at the match.

"They were tremendous, brilliant, and I hope they enjoyed it," he said.

"We hope they all come back to Bootham Crescent on Sunday when we take on Macclesfield."

Updated: 12:40 Monday, January 27, 2003