YORK and York Trojans are on collision course.
The two teams are neck and neck in the North Premier League second division and meet at the end of the month in their final league game which could well determine who is top dog in the city.
York have run into some form in the last couple of weeks and recorded their biggest win of the season on Saturday - a 7-1 thumping of Stockton. Two goals in the first ten minutes set the scene as Graham Cook and James Gilbert slotted home after slick passing in midfield.
Stockton rallied briefly, but were caught by a swift break down the right which ended in Simon Tibble knocking the ball into an empty net.
Tibble popped up again just after half time to roll the ball to Chris Dutton to fire home.
York began to play with two men in defence, just one in midfield and seven in attack and Stockton were able to force James Baughan into several fine saves, but he was beaten from a short corner rebound.
In the final quarter, York's all-out attack policy paid off with goals by Alex Gutteridge, Tibble and skipper Glyn Humphrey.Humphrey said: "It was not one of our better displays, but you have got to be happy with the result.
"At times we had more of our defenders in their area than they did. We will need to tighten up a lot for next week's trip to Brooklands."
Trojans lost 2-1 to Lytham St Annes on Saturday despite taking an early lead through player-coach Mark Little with a shot struck from the top of the circle.
Lytham responded with tremendous pressure, but missed a penalty stroke and failed to score from a succession of penalty corners which had Trojans penned back.
Eventually the pressure told and Trojans cracked in the second half of a physical, but sporting game.
Halifax II, battling against relegation from Yorkshire League division three, brought off a shock 3-0 win against Trojans II.
Both Dave Lake and John Armstrong went close in the early stages for Trojans, who paid for not taking their chances when the defence failed to cut out a pass and Halifax snapped up the lead.
After that Trojans' passing and tackling fell apart and Halifax scored a second goal.
Although Armstrong and Peter Foulsham combined well and were unlucky not to score, Trojans lacked a cool head in midfield and relied too much on the long hit upfield which the Halifax defence easily dealt with on the synthetic surface.
Halifax took their chance to go 3-0 up against a disappointing Trojans, whose Matthew Martindale was the only man to play consistently well.
At the top of the division, Acomb have set their sights on title - and a 100 per cent winning record.
They are just four games from that double target after beating Bradford II 6-1.
Jon Cooper's cross was turned in after only five minutes by Nick Linfoot to give Acomb a flying start and skipper Stuart Baxter soon made it 2-0 with a short corner strike. Cooper added another with a solo goal and then added another before Bradford pulled a goal back before the interval.
Acomb dominated the second period, but were only able to add a couple more goals from Baxter and Peter Hilton as the Bradford goalkeeper was in fine form.
Acomb II beat Ben Rhydding IV 2-1 in a thriller on a grass surface.
Keith Wilson put Acomb ahead with a penalty flick, Ben Rhydding equalised against the run of play, but Acomb sealed victory with a Mike Brown strike after a well worked short corner.
Acomb III fought back from 2-0 down to lead Hull V 3-2, but were forced to settle for a draw.
After conceding twice, Acomb levelled through a Graham Wilson penalty corner and Jim Craggs, who forced in Mike Jones' right wing centre.
Bob Dickinson slotted home from a narrow angle to give Acomb the lead, but 'keeper Steve Church was left stranded by a deflected shot which earned Hull a 3-3 draw. Skipper Brian Robertson was Acomb's man-of-the-match.
Old Malton II beat Acomb IV 4-0, the opening goal coming in the first minute.
Trojans III bounced back from last week's defeat to beat Rotherham III 3-1 in a robust game and go back to the top of division five.
Matthew Pickering dribbled into the circle after 10 minutes, committed the 'keeper and slipped the ball to David Lancaster, who put Trojans ahead.
Rotherham equalised five minutes later, but Trojans recaptured the lead with a well struck short-corner by Jeremy Mackman. Pickering set up the final goal for Chris Allerton.
In the same division, York II crashed 7-0 to Thirsk. They were never in the game after letting in three early goals.
The York defence was often outnumbered and outmanoeuvred, giving goalkeeper Tony Moffatt a busy afternoon.
Ollie Couttie stepped in to play on York's left wing as a last-minutre replacement for 'flu-stricken Robin Gordon.
Robert Spetch was the pick of the Trojans IV players as they lost 1-0 to league leaders Leeds University IV in a match dominated by the students.
Improving Trojans V came away from Huddersfield VI with a 1-1 draw.
The home side took the lead in the second half, but Trojans' pressure was rewarded with a short corner which saw right winger Edward Shouksmith give an inch-perfect pass to Dick Bowen, who netted from the edge of the circle.Shouksmith, sweeper Mike Maynard and Luke Spiers were outstanding for Trojans.John Harrison, skipper of York III, read the riot act to his team at half-time against Huddersfield and although York responded with an improved performance they ended up losing 4-0.York IV fought back in vain against Chapletown who led 2-0 at half-time. A penalty corner goal by skipper John Ward and a goal from Andrew Dent saw York draw level, but the Sheffield side went on to score the decisive third.York will play Huddersfield in the next round of the Yorkshire Veterans' Cup after beating Bradford 2-1 with a Mike Couttie short corner goal and a Graham Cook penalty on Sunday.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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