Football: Sole survivor

GOLDEN MOMENT: Scott Jordan, No 8, celebrates at Brighton's Goldstone Ground after City's 3-1 win in May 1996 with former team-mates, from left: John Sharples, Graeme Murty, Paddy Atkinson, Gary Bull, Gary Naylor, Paul Stephenson, Richard Cresswell, and Darren Williams.

So vital is he to City's well-being that manager Neil Thompson proposed major protection to ensure his playmaker stays fit for the club's battle to scramble clear of the basement fear-zone.

Next up for City is tomorrow's clash at Brighton, one of the pre-season promotion favourites.

Jordan coincidentally is the sole first-team survivor from City's last clash away to the Seagulls in 1996, a critical game played five days after the official end of the season once the original fixture was postponed because of a riot at the Goldstone Ground less than two weeks earlier.

City triumphed 3-1 in the protracted encounter to ultimately stave off the threat of relegation to the bottom division, Brighton already having been consigned to the drop.

Now they are deep among the lower orders, but Jordan has been cited by his boss as a key man to inspire City to escaping from even greater woe.

Said Thompson: "In the final ten games of last season we saw a lot of quality about him.

"Then early in this season he seemed to struggle with a knock or a strain, but hopefully we have him back fit now.

"I see in Scott Jordan the best all-round midfielder in the club. He is as good a passer as anyone and he tackles tenaciously.

"Let's keep him wrapped up in cotton wool, because when he is fit he is an important member of the team."

Jordan, who was the final scorer in that May-day rescue at the now defunct Goldstone Ground, is presently targeting a return to the south coast to reinforce the desire to put together a strong run of results.

Closing in on 150 League appearances for City, Jordan ventured that the division was not blessed with an outstanding side, which gave hope to City's push further away from the bottom.

"The most important thing now is for us to get a consistently good run going.

"If we can carry on like we did in the second-half against Leyton Orient then we can get a decent result at Brighton.

"In the games I've played and then while I've watched while being injured there's not been a team that's been too special. On our day we can beat anyone in this division."

Jordan's first return to the south coast resort sees him far nearer to being an established regular than on his last outing, and nothing would please him more to repeat the double feat of scoring and bagging maximum points.

Of that Goldstone Ground outing he recalled: "I don't remember much about my goal as it was in the closing stages, but it was a strange sort of day.

"The game kicked off at 11am and though the result did not seem to matter to Brighton as they had already been relegated, they went 1-0 up. At that time we weren't playing too well.

"But once we scored in the second-half we started cruising."

Boss confident of justifying support

by Tony Kelly

Resolute manager Neil Thompson hailed the York City board's backing for him.

But he acknowledged he would ultimately survive or perish by results, adding that it was up to him and his players to get the Minstermen back on track continuing at Brighton tomorrow.

Thompson readied City for the long haul south buoyed by chairman Douglas Craig's assertion that the manager would be afforded 'a fair degree of time in order to succeed'.

"The chairman and the directors have supported everything I have done. I cannot fault them," said Thompson.

"But it's down to myself, my staff, and all the players to get the right results.

"You cannot put a time-scale on anything, football is not like that. In football things happen when you expect them.

"I'm not a fool. You are marked on results and ours are not great at the moment. I am under no illusions.

"But I'm not going to duck away, that's for sure. I am totally positive we will turn things around."

A training-ground injury and the menace of a bug threatens to stymie Thompson's plans to keep faith with the second-half line-up that prompted a winning comeback against Leyton Orient a week ago.

On-loan attacker Anthony Ormerod has tweaked an hamstring. His involvement will hinge on a late fitness test tomorrow, while several players are snuffling to cold symptoms, which have bugged the City boss most of the week.

"We have three difficult games to come starting at Brighton, then away at Halifax on Tuesday and home to Hull City next week. But while they are tough they are all winnable. The result against Leyton Orient should give us that bit more confidence.

"We can take heart from the fact we have lost only one game in the last five."

Thompson was also hoping City could capitalise on Brighton's unconvincing home form.

Back home in the resort after their exile at Gillingham, the Seagulls have won three, but lost three at the Withdean Stadium, including one of the shock results of the season when bottom-placed Chester City turned over the hosts 3-2.

It's a sharp contrast to their away form, Brighton having lost just once and only last week 1-0 victors at Carlisle.

Brighton boss Mickey Adams adds close-season recruit Darren Freeman to his attack after he missed the trip to Cumbria with concussion. In defence will be Danny Culipp, whose loan spell has been followed by a £50,000 move to Brighton from Brentford.

York City's youth team entertain Hull City in the Northern Youth Alliance at the Wigginton Road training ground, ko 11am.

Tomorrow's Teams

Division Three at Withdean Stadium

BRIGHTON from Walton, Wilder, Hobson, McPherson, Cullip, Campbell, Rogers, Oatway, Aspinall, Cameron, Hart, Parmer, Crosby, Mayo, Thomas, Newhouse, Freeman.

YORK CITY from Mimms, Jones, Hall, Jordan, Sertori, Fairclough, Hulme, Agnew, Ormerod, Conlon, M Williams, Howarth, Dawson, Fox, J Williams, Garratt, Hocking, Bullock.

Brighton v York City

Tomorrow is City's first visit to the Withdean Stadium, but they made ten league visits to the old Goldstone ground.

They managed two wins and one draw on that ground. In 1970/1 Paul Aimson scored both goals in a 2-0 success, and in 1973/4 they drew 0-0 in a game which marked Brian Clough's first match in charge at Brighton. An attendance of 16,017 was at the Goldstone that day. City's heavies defeat was 7-2 in 1976/7 in a game featured on BBC's "Match of the Day".

Their last visit to Brighton was a crucial affair and staged on the morning of Thursday, May 9, 1996 after the original match had been abandoned after 17 minutes on April 27 because of a pitch invasion. City won 3-1 to stave off relegation with goals from Gary Bull, Paul Stephenson and Scott Jordon. The side was: Kiely, McMillan, Atkinson, Pepper, Sharples, Atkin, Murty, (Williams), Jordan, Naylor, (Cresswell), Bull, Stephenson.

Players to have appeared for both clubs include Wally Gould, John Goodchild, Gerry Fell, Gary Howlett and John Bryne.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.