ADAM HINSHELWOOD credited the spirit shown by his York City players following their narrow 3-2 defeat to Wycombe Wanderers – and criticised the referee for their involvement.

York had an underwhelming start against Sky Bet League One high-fliers Wycombe in the Emirates FA Cup first round, as a foul in the area by Ryan Fallowfield allowed Luke Leahy to bag the opening goal from the penalty spot.

Just seven minutes later, Wycombe’s lead was doubled as Gideon Kodua swept the ball home from a one-on-one.

Tyrese Sinclair did provide York with some belief after a superb strike, before Leahy netted his brace with a well-taken free-kick.

City almost clawed back level in stoppage-time as Joe Felix scored a late goal, but the Minstermen could not profit from their late pressure.

Hinshelwood credited the spirit shown by his side for their efforts, and sees the result as a potential learning curve that can be taken into the Vanarama National League.

“First and foremost, we are disappointed to go out and lose games of football, but there is a certain manner that you can lose games,” Hinshelwood admitted.

“I thought that the grit and the determination from the players, the belief to keep going, was definitely there and was definitely evident.

“It’s definitely something for us to cling on to, we had an unbelievable following again behind the goal and we’re just disappointed that we couldn’t quite get that last touch to extend the tie.

“In the main, they are an unbelievable side and to make ten changes and still be as powerful as they were, they physicality between the two sides was really evident.

“We played some really good stuff, we wanted to come and still play with our identity and I think that we did that.

“Did we always get it right? No, but we will learn a lot from today’s game and it’s going to be a good benchmark for us.

“We’ve got to take the good stuff and learn from the things that we can improve on, and take that into our bread and butter of the National League next week.

“We’re disappointed, we thought that it was here for us and now that the game has panned out, we’re probably even more disappointed.

“We’ll lick our wounds, we’ll improve and make sure that we take any frustration that we’ve got and any disappointment that we’ve got and take that into our next two matches, because they are two really big games for us.”

Wycombe’s win was perhaps marred by a somewhat questionable performance from the referee, who elected to not award York a penalty in the second-half, with Sinclair claiming a foul in the area.

Hinshelwood was livid with the refereeing performance, and felt that it heavily contributed to City’s defeat.

The boss fumed: “To progress when you come to a place like this, you need that little bit of luck.

“I don’t think we got it, he was very one sided with his decisions until it went to 3-1, and I said that to the fourth official that this was going to go to 3-1 and then he was going to start evening up the decisions.

“I thought that was the case, he’s got a real big decision to make when Ty has gone through, the player didn’t get anything on the ball and just barged into him.

“I just think that maybe if it’s the other way, he can’t wait to give it.

“We needed a little bit of luck, we’re never going to sit behind referee decisions, we’re going to look at where we can improve.

“Did Ryan need to go to ground when there were three players there? No, it was an easy decision for the referee, but was it a soft one? Yes.

“I thought that the momentum that that would have given us a little bit earlier in the game could have helped us gain a few more chances.

“I’ve got to credit the players and the supporters today, they both stuck with us, they kept believing even when it went 3-1.

“We kept going and the fans kept believing, there is lots and lots for us to be positive with, and there’s a manner that you can lose where we have shown a lot of grit and determination.”