HARRISON MALE has received high levels of praise from York City manager Adam Hinshelwood after an ‘exceptional’ start to his career with the Minstermen.

With Rory Watson and George Sykes-Kenworthy ending the 2023/24 season as York’s two recognised goalkeepers, Hinshelwood opted to bolster his backline with the addition of Male, who he had worked with previously at Worthing.

Male joined City with the promise of sharing the number one shirt with Watson, whilst Sykes-Kenworthy continues to recover from an ankle injury.

The 24-year-old was part of four new signings announced in the Summer on the same day, joining following his departure from relegated Dorking Wanderers, and was chosen to start ahead of Watson on the opening day against Southend United.

Male has since gone from strength to strength, accumulating seven clean sheets in 11 games and proving a pivotal member of the squad, as York continue their push for promotion.

Speaking on the goalkeeper, Hinshelwood enthused: “He is [exceptional], both goalkeepers have been superb this year.

“It shows with the amount of clean sheets that we have kept, with Harrison I knew what we were going to get.

“I know how Harrison likes to play, he’s really good with his feet and I think he was an outfield player until he was 15, which obviously helps.

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“For someone where the first thing that teams maybe look at is his height, he is so brave and makes up for it by being so agile.

“He will come and claim stuff for us, he’s not scared at all.

“I’m really pleased with Harrison, I knew that he would be a success here and he has proven that with the early parts of his career.

“I’m sure that he will carry on the way that he has started.”

Hinshelwood has also been impressed with the standards that have been driven by both Male and Watson during training and on matchdays, with both goalkeepers demanding more from their outfield teammates to help maintain those high expectations.

“Both goalkeepers are great characters as well, they drive the sessions and demand more from their defenders on a matchday.

“When they do the shooting practices, they sort of demand more from the forwards because they want to get worked.

“They are really good, great characters and we’re really lucky to have two top goalkeepers at this club.”

Male received recognition from supporters after a crucial save in Saturday’s 4-0 victory over Ebbsfleet United maintained York’s lead, with the shot-stopper parrying a one-on-one.

Hinshelwood credited the goalkeeper for his performance, and spoke about how he has reflected on the victory over the Fleet heading into Tuesday night’s match with Barnet at the LNER Community Stadium (7.45pm).

He commented: “I’m just pleased to come through the game, get four goals and keep a clean sheet.

“It was a different challenge, Harrison made an unbelievable save at 1-0 and the game could have been completely different if they scored that.

“All said and done, we’re pleased with the result and the scoreline, like most games at this league you need a little bit of luck as well.

“I thought that we scored at the right times in the game and were quite ruthless with some of our finishing.

“All of the stats in the game were good, in terms of our possession and final third entries, which is obviously good.

“They didn’t have too many [chances] on the day, but could have still come away with a couple of goals.

“I think that we do need to be better come Tuesday, that’s our challenge.”