YORK City chief Terry Dolan was hoping a few days rest would help his team ahead of the relegation six-pointer against Halifax Town tomorrow night.

Having had a hectic run of fixtures in less than ideal conditions, the effects were beginning to show on the City players against Southend on Saturday.

Even with the extra man for 50 minutes, after the sending off of Southend's Mark Beard, City found the going tough before snatching a late winner.

Big games against Fulham, Hull City and Rochdale had all taken their toll and Dolan believes that was clear to see at Roots Hall.

"We had the numerical advantage but the way the game had gone in the first half I didn't think that that would make much difference, because it was a very swirly wind and we had one or two tired legs and minds from Tuesday night," he said.

"I just said to the players that one goal could win this, so let's make sure it is us and that we keep a clean sheet, which we did.

"We had a couple of scares late on, but Alan Fettis made a brilliant save and we got the goal so everyone can go home happy.

"We put ourselves under pressure because we weren't clearing the ball far enough, we weren't getting it behind them. There were one or two things we could have done a little bit better, but over the last few weeks we've been playing a lot of games in heavy conditions and think it was fairly clear that there were one or two tired legs.

"We need to rest over the weekend, both physically and mentally, because Halifax is a big game."

One big plus for Dolan is the mark made by defender-cum-striker Jon Parkin on his debut after signing on loan from Barnsley.

"We played with a front three who haven't played together before so it is not going to blend straight away, but I'm pleased that Jon got the goal," he said.

"We haven't many goals scored like that, so he offers an alternative to us.

"I just felt at the second half our best chance to kill the game off was through opportunities like that, but our final ball in was poor."

However, it was a final ball from Michael Proctor, which was flicked on by Chris Smith for Parkin to send his header over Darryl Flahavan for the only goal.

"When it came in and I saw Jon get on the end of it, even when he headed it, such was the loop on it I wasn't sure whether it was going in but it has left the keeper stranded," he added.

"That was his first game in over a month, so I've got to be delighted.

"He probably isn't as sharp as he might be because he hasn't played that many games.

"He scored the winning goal for us, which put the icing on the cake, but I still feel we can do better as a team."

Updated: 09:06 Monday, February 11, 2002