York City 0, Halifax Town 2

For York City's Chris Porter that dramatic fall from acclaim to the dreaded finger of blame lasted little longer than the half-time interval during yesterday's crucial home clash with West Yorkshire neighbours Halifax.

Porter received deserved plaudits from both team-mates and supporters as he left the pitch at the end of the first period after a tremendous near-post save from John Grant kept his side on level terms going into the interval.

But, just three minutes into the restart, the 26-year-old keeper charged off his line to meet a Steve Haslam cross, missed his punch and left Grant with a vacated net in which to direct his header.

Former City favourite Steve Bushell, who entered the action as a second-half substitute, then consigned Billy McEwan's men to another season of Conference football - bar a sequence of very unlikely results - with a thumping 20-yard drive on 83 minutes.

It was the 33-year-old's second goal against his former club since leaving York in 1998 but his last effort for Blackpool in a 2-1 victory for the Minstermen seven-and-a-half years ago was nowhere near as important.

Bushell's strike means that Halifax, with one game in hand on their top-five rivals except for Grays, made a significant stride towards securing a play-off spot and his celebrations earned him a booking.

With their top-five ambitions almost extinguished, City fans must, as McEwan rightly reasoned afterwards, reflect on massive improvements over the last 12 months which have probably seen them entertained on a more regular basis than the followers of a professional but methodical and unspectacular Halifax outfit.

The youthful exuberance, however, that has thrilled Minstermen supporters with an array of cavalier attacking performances proved inadequate in the face of a Halifax team, whose uncompromising and powerful defence did not afford Conference hot-shots Andy Bishop and Clayton Donaldson one sight of Jon Kennedy's goal.

In fact, Kennedy's only saves of the afternoon came from a couple of Dave Merris corners that swung in dangerously with the assistance of a strong wind.

Joe O'Neill, who was given his first start since January as McEwan reverted to a three-pronged strikeforce, should have tested Kennedy but squandered his team's best two chances of the afternoon.

First, O'Neill headed over from six yards after an excellent left-wing cross from Merris and, then, the former Preston striker miskicked in front of goal on the hour mark when James Dudgeon had headed down a free kick from Mark Convery.

In between, Halifax had forged ahead following Porter's misjudgement and doubled their advantag when Bushell found the City keeper's bottom right-hand corner with an angled low drive after Emmanuel Panther's headed clearance from a Martin Foster corner had only travelled as far as the edge of the penalty box.

Other than O'Neill's opportunities, City's only threatening moment came from a twice-taken indirect free kick, awarded for a Matt Doughty back pass on 53 minutes.

Amid chaotic scenes that saw three visiting players cautioned for dissent and encroachment, midfielder Darren Dunning, having received the ball from Panther eight yards from goal, twice blasted shots straight at the 11-man wall lined up between the sticks.

The efforts summed up City's attacking potency with Donaldson too often a static presence on the wing, failing to utilise his pace, and Andy Bishop labouring with little luck.

McEwan made a brave decision to change his formation for the match, leaving out midfielders Neal Bishop and Convery and recalling club captain Mark Hotte with David McGurk switching to right-back.

With his midfield looking weary in recent outings, it was an understandable switch in tactics and, despite McEwan consistently refusing to be drawn on his side's play-off chances this season, even banning the mere mention of the "p-word" at KitKat Crescent, his touchline performance yesterday portrayed his genuine hopes for his side.

McEwan, who on a normal day, makes Stuart Pearce look as sedate as Sven Goran-Eriksson, gave an extraordinarily passionate display from the dugout.

The Scotsman performed a comical, if ill-advised, role reversal by shoving the fourth official back towards the players' tunnel, offered the referee his spectacles and, towards the end of the match, entered into an exasperated argument with an abusive supporter.

It might not be the preferred etiquette for Soho Square's team of head-hunters but McEwan's heart-on-sleeve desire, dedication to his job and determination to succeed in his first full season at KitKat Crescent deserves applause not criticism.

His players, despite looking almost certain to fail in their valiant play-off bid, also deserve huge credit for a season largely regarded as the club's most exciting for a decade.

York City 0, Halifax Town 2 (Grant 48, Bushell 83)

Porter 6, Thomas 7, Dudgeon 8, Hotte 6, Merris 7 (Stewart 79), Panther 6, Thomas 7, Dunning 7 (Convery 54, 6), O'Neill 6, A Bishop 6, Donaldson 6

Key: 10 - Faultless; 9 - Outstanding; 8 - Excellent; 7 - Good; 6 - Average; 5 - Below par; 4 - Poor; 3 - Dud; 2 - Hopeless; 1 - Retire

Subs (not used): Reid, N Bishop, Webster.

Star man: James Dudgeon - commitment and determination until the end.

Halifax Town: Jon Kennedy, Steve Haslam, Adam Quinn, Greg Young, Matt Doughty, Brian Smikle (Steve Bushell 64), Martin Foster, Tyrone Thompson, Lewis Killeen, John Grant (Ryan Sugden 78), Danny Forrest. Subs not used: Lee Butler, Chris Senior, Peter Atherton.

Yellow cards: Thompson 52, Young 53, Doughty 53, Bushell 83.

Referee: David Foster (Newcastle) rating: impressive performance in a crucial derby clash.

Attendance: 4,084

Weather watch: Strong winds.

Game breaker: Chris Porter missing his attempted punch that resulted in Halifax's opening goal.

Match rating: Looked a bridge too far for City against an unspectacular but professional Halifax team.

McEwan's verdict: "I thought we had done the hard part at half-time keeping it to 0-0 against a very strong wind but we gave two bad goals away and missed very good opportunities. A top team like Halifax punishes you for that."

Player watch: Dave Merris

Shots on target: 0

Shots off target: 0

Blocked shots: 0

Passes to own player: 10

Passes to opposition: 8

Crosses to own player: 1

Crosses to opposition: 7

Pass success rate: 42.3 per cent

Dribbles ball retained: 0

Dribbles ball lost: 2

Dribbles success rate: 0 per cent

Headers: 9 Tackles: 12

Clearances, blocks and interceptions: 9 Offsides: 0

Free-kicks won: 0

Free-kicks conceded: 0

Yellow cards: 0

Final summary: Decent return in place of the suspended Nathan Peat before being substituted. Displayed typical grit by making an excellent 12 tackles and did not commit a foul. Also managed to make a healthy amount of crosses, and caused Halifax keeper Jon Kennedy his only problems of the game with a couple of inswinging corners.

Updated: 10:15 Tuesday, April 18, 2006