PINT-sized striker James Turley is hoping his timely second senior goal will earn him a top-up to his Bootham Crescent tenure.

The 18-year-old bagged the Minstermen's opening goal in Saturday's red card laden 2-0 victory over Halifax Town and received a standing ovation from the York City crowd when substituted just minutes from the end of the match.

The Manchester-born teenager is coming to the end of his first season in the professional ranks but after Saturday's perfectly timed tap-in is keeping his fingers crossed that Terry Dolan will offer him an extension.

"Scoring can't have done any harm but it is all down to the gaffer," Turley told the Evening Press of his chances at earning a new deal.

"Hopefully, I will be speaking to him soon but he has said he has not been happy with the strikers so I am just glad to have gone and scored another goal.

"I had a few other chances that I could have put away but the keeper has saved a few and I've missed the target so it was good to get on the sheet.

"You cannot let your head drop after missing chances and I just had to keep going and I was a lot happier with my performance in the second half."

The City boss refused to be drawn on whether Turley's goal had tipped the scales in the teenager's favour as he fights for a fresh contract.

"He deserved his goal but strikers have got to hit the target and the three or four chances he had he failed to do so," said Dolan.

"But he stuck at it and eventually got his goal."

Dolan admitted the win over Halifax was the first time in his long career he had encountered an opposition reduced to eight men.

The Shaymen suffered three second-half sending-offs in the space of 16 minutes and Dolan conceded City failed to take full advantage.

"Once we got the goal I was hoping we would get one or two more but the second-half was a strange game to say the least

"While it is only one you are always worried there maybe a lapse in concentration and I was concerned to make sure that didn't happen.

"When they lost two players I wanted us to pass it around quickly and create the space which didn't really happen until they had only eight men.

"But I don't want to be too critical because it was all a bit unreal. I have never had to play against eight men before."

Dolan revealed a half-time tongue lashing forced a turnaround in fortunes after a sluggish first 45 minutes from the Minstermen.

"I had a few choice words to say at half-time because I think one or two of our players thought they were on a beach on their holidays already," said Dolan.

"I tried to explain they had a duty to give everything they have got and I think we saw a little bit more spark there in the second-half because it was a dull affair in the first-half.

"But 2-0 is another clean sheet, we never really looked in any danger apart from one or two scares in the first half, and it is another three points so we cannot be unhappy."

Halifax manager Mark Lillis confessed to being shell-shocked at the second-half's turn of events.

The Shaymen went into Saturday's encounter with the fourth-best disciplinary record in Division Three.

"I pride myself on my discipline record and it has just gone to pot," he said.

"I don't think it was a dirty game but I was forced to go from a 4-4-2 to a 3-4-2 to a 3-3-1 and I thought 'this is management for you'.

"But systems don't win you games. It is men who win you games and we didn't have enough on there in the end."