York City kick off National League season with 2-0 win

Goals from Maziar Kouhyar and Michael Duckworth were enough for York to win their first match of the National League season.

It was City's first game in the National League since 2017, after a five-year stint in the National League North came to an end in May when York won the play-off final against Boston United.

The Minstermen were the better side for much of the game against an established fifth-tier side in Woking, a team they have not lost to since 2008.

A goal in each half helped them consolidate the three points from a game that they always looked in control of.

Manager John Askey named five of his 16 new signings in York’s starting 11, with Ethan Ross, Adam Crookes, Dan Pybus and Luke James all making their professional debuts for City.

It was also Alex Whittle’s first competitive appearance for the club since 2018.

Fellow new arrivals Alex Hurst, Scott Boden, Fraser Kerr and Scott Burgess were named to the bench.

York started the game brightly and had their first attempt on goal within the opening five minutes of the match.

Michael Duckworth was fouled near the half-way line and the resulting free-kick was taken quickly, finding James in the box.

The forward drove a shot towards goal but saw it well saved by Woking goalkeeper Craig Ross.

After a midfield battle dominated much of the opening stages, Woking would soon enough have their first chance.

The Cards worked well from a throw-in on the right wing, their interlinking passes seeing them break into the York box.

The ball came to Dan Moss who would have scored were it not for an impressive save from Ross.

York looked to consistently get on the attack in the first half of the game and, when not on the ball, applied an impressive pressure on their opponents.

Duckworth, who was one of the strongest performers in the first 45 minutes, almost saw a cross of his sail into the goal.

Though it had the beating of Ross, it fizzed just wide of the far post.

On the half-hour mark Olly Dyson, playing in central midfield, thundered forward from just outside his own box.

He offloaded to Lenell John-Lewis and though the striker lost possession, City swiftly retained the ball.

It was once more played to Dyson, who saw his powerful effort from the edge of the box go just wide.

Debutant James almost opened the scoring in a slightly surreal fashion. The ball came to him in the box and the former Barrow man attempted an overhead kick.

The strike was tame, rolling along the floor. In spite of this, it was able to roll beyond Ross and was denied only by the post.

The Minstermen finally broke the deadlock courtesy of some poor play from the Woking defence.

The Cardinals backline conceded possession cheaply, a misplaced pass being picked off by the onrushing Kouhyar.

The attacker, who scored York’s final goal of last season, was able to open their account for the campaign, calmly slotting an effort beyond Craig Ross.

After scoring, Kouhyar continued to look focused in the attack. John-Lewis did well on the right wing to find the winger, who unleashed a curling shot that Ross was able to save.

Only moments later, the Afghanistan international struck another effort from outside the box and saw it come agonisingly close to dipping in under the bar.

Woking had a real chance to equalise at the conclusion of the half after a long ball was fired forward.

Maxim Kouogun was unable to deal with it and James Daly broke into the York box, but was denied by a brilliant save from Ross.

Though York did not begin the second half with a spark similar to that of the first, they were still looking to create.

Duckworth was on the receiving end of a tough challenge from Jim Kellerman. The Woking man saw only a yellow card, but fans in the ground felt it was worth something more.

Only moments later Luke Wilkinson was booked for a similarly hard tackle, only on John-Lewis.

The Minstermen would continue to press forward and with just over 10 minutes of the half played, they won a corner.

Kouhyar fizzed in a low ball towards Hancox at the near post. Hancox laid the ball back to Duckworth and the right-back smashed an effort into the bottom corner to double his side’s lead, with York benefitting from a great set-piece routine.

City’s passing continued to look sharp, however they were not quite as effective in creating chances after Duckworth’s goal.

John-Lewis’ lay-off to Whittle was too weak for him to reach, while only a minute before that, Duckworth had done well to make space on the right but was unable to get enough power on his ball into the box.

Woking had fewer efforts on goal in the second half than in the first, but had a great opportunity to pull one back from a free-kick.

Jack Roles’ struck a great delivery into the box and found the head of substitute Reece Grego-Cox, who would have scored were it not for a magnificent parry from Ross to keep the ball out.

The pace of the game had certainly slowed in the final 15 minutes, but City came close to adding a third in the dying embers of the clash.

Alex Hurst, making his competitive debut after coming on for James in the 75th minute, skipped past his man and broke through the Woking defence.

He found his way into the box but could only place his low, driven shot just wide of the far post.

Hurst looked to have another chance to score only minutes later, but was denied by the offside flag.

Rohan Ince had a shot for Woking in stoppage time, but it was never going to trouble Ross, who claimed it comfortably.

In the final few minutes, Boden was brought on for John-Lewis to make his official City debut.

York City: Ross, Duckworth, Kouogun, Crookes, Whittle, Pybus, Dyson, Hancox, James (Hurst 75’), John-Lewis (C) (Boden 90’), Kouhyar (Kerr 89’)

Unused subs: Whitley, Burgess

Woking: Ross, Moss, Cuthbert, Wilkinson, Casey (C), Kellermann (Grego-Cox 55’), Ince, Anderson, Johnson (McNerney 86’), Amond, Daly

Unused subs: Nelson, Roles, Wady

Stats for York City v Woking:

Shots (on target): 11 (6) | 6 (4)

Goals: Kouhyar (36’) Duckworth (57’)

Fouls committed: 7 | 10

Yellow cards: 0 | 3 (Kellerman 51’, Wilkinson 53’, Cuthbert 59’)

Offsides: 5 | 0

Corners: 4 | 3

Referee: Ed Duckworth

Attendance: 3,978

York City’s star man: Maziar Kouhyar, but honestly, it could have been anyone. Kouhyar opened the scoring and was consistently looking to create on the attack. Again though, any of City’s players today could have been their star man.