BY THE time the FA Cup final is staged in May it is conceivable York City will no longer exist.

But if those currently working so hard behind the scenes to safeguard the club's future can continue to match the effort, commitment and skill shown by the City players against Grimsby Town then the club cannot fail to survive.

And who knows, if City can repeat their heroics of last night then who is to say the Minstermen won't actually be striding out at the Millennium Stadium on May 4?

Granted, it is highly unlikely. But this is the FA Cup after all and given last night's stirring performance then Fulham, for all their millions, should hold no fear in ten days time.

Exhilarating, exciting, electric - the words to describe City's performance and that of the magnificent following that roared them on from start to finish could run and run.

Brilliant probably sums it up best.

It raises the question - which is rapidly becoming a stuck record - as to why City continue to perform as they do in the FA Cup then see their standards drop so alarmingly in the League?

But now is not the time for nit-picking. Given recent off-field events the supporters, players, staff and management team at Bootham Crescent should simply enjoy basking in the glory.

And glory the players deserve. Any one of them could have been crowned man of the match and no one could have argued.

But it is the unsung heroes who warrant special mention.

The twin strike force of Michael Proctor and Lee Nogan always catch the eye even when City are not functioning as a team and deserve all the plaudits they get.

But it is perhaps no exaggeration to say when Mike Basham is on his game, his passing pinpoint and his tackles as crisp as crackling, then City as a whole look that bit more assured, that bit more resolute, that bit more confident.

And wing-backs Graham Potter and Darren Edmondson remain other benchmarks as to how City will fare. When they fizz forward down the flanks, City, likewise, are effervescent.

Quite simply, the Mariners were no match for the Minstermen, who after a scrappy start dominated by midfield skirmishes, took control of the match and, but for a few anxious moments at the death, never relented their strangle-hold.

There was a touch of fortune about City's all-deciding goal on 17 minutes as Grimsby defender Alan Neilson steered Richard Cooper's cross into his own net

But that slice, quite literally, of good fortune should not detract from the super-slick City move that preceded it.

Nick Richardson started the ball rolling from deep within City's own half. From there, it zipped to Edmondson, to Proctor, to Nogan before reaching Cooper out wide, who then centred for Neilson's telling intervention.

Thereafter, it was one-way traffic as City produced not just their best football of this season but their best for many a season.

But for Danny Coyne in the Grimsby goal it would not have been an injustice had City gone in 5-0 up at half-time.

First Proctor was denied when one-on-one, then the Welsh international was alert to claw Potter's vicious inswinging free-kick around the post before he expertly tipped Nogan's curling effort out from under the bar.

Proctor side-footed just wide from six yards before Coyne came to sorry Grimsby's rescue again, saving Lee Bullock's near post effort with his feet then producing yet another spectacular parry to deny Proctor's howitzer volley before confirming his international class with another near post stop to deny the City striker yet again.

Not surprisingly, City could not fashion the sheer volume of chances in the second half but in terms of their attacking frenzy there was no let-up.

It took yet another amazing save, the pick of a considerable bunch, from Coyne to deny Nogan from doubling City's advantage within five minutes of the restart before the Grimsby shot-stopper was also at full stretch to keep-out Bullock's diving header.

In contrast, Grimsby rarely rose above ordinary and, but for a Phil Jevons effort that whispered past the post in the final minute, City goalkeeper Alan Fettis remained, as he had done at Blundell Park, little more than an interested observer.

Football was created for nights like these. Fingers crossed that there will be many more to come in the history of York City Football Club.

York City 1

Scorer: Neilson (og) 17m

York City: Fettis 9, Edmondson 9, Hocking 9, Basham 9, Hobson 9, Potter 9, Cooper 9, Richardson 9, Bullock 9, Nogan 9, Proctor 9.

Subs, not used: Howarth, Mathie, Stamp, Duffield, Smith.

Bookings: Bullock 37m, Edmondson 51m.

Sent-off: None.

Grimsby 0

Grimsby: Coyne, Neilson, Ford, Groves, Gallimore, Chapman (Boulding 58m), Burnett, Butterfield, Campbell (Smith 80m), Jevons, Thompson (Raven 86m).

Bookings: Thompson 54m, Jevons 58m, Groves 65m, Gallimore 73m.

Sent-off: None.

Man of the match: MIKE BASHAM

On a night of heroes, Basham made a series of telling tackles and interceptions, hardly missed a header and played some delightful balls out of defence.

Attendance: 6,638

Ref: Roger Furnandiz (Doncaster)

City's next match:

v Rushden & Diamonds, Division Three at Nene Park, Saturday, January 19, 2002, kick-off 3pm

Updated: 12:37 Wednesday, January 16, 2002