ADAM HINSHELWOOD was ‘delighted’ to be on the right end of a 5-3 victory over rivals Hartlepool United - but believes that his players need to rectify having any lapses in judgement.
After a dramatic goal fest at the LNER Community Stadium, York came out 5-3 winners after Ollie Pearce and Alex Hunt had given City a two goal advantage heading into half-time.
York had to withstand some relentless Hartlepool pressure early in the second-half after former City defender David Ferguson had halved the deficit, with Hinshelwood pleased by the game management shown by his squad of players.
Ashley Nathaniel-George had offered breathing room with a stunning long-range strike, before Dipo Akinyemi headed home a fourth.
Hartlepool scored another as Luke Charman saw a strike loop over Harrison Male, before Pearce struck home a second from the penalty spot.
Mani Dieseruvwe bagged a consolation strike, with York running out grateful victors.
“We’ve scored five goals, it was a tough game and we’re delighted with the result, but I think there were lapses of concentration,” Hinshelwood admitted.
“Especially when we have gone ahead in the game, and we’ve got to rectify that quickly.
“If there’s ever a game to teach you that you can’t switch off for a minute in the National League, today would be it.
“Sometimes when you do that, you can not be on the right end of a result.
“Our lapses of concentration, hopefully we can get them out of the way and learn from it, but to still come away with three points is huge.
“Once it goes five’s or fours, that’s when those moments come.
“We just got a little bit comfortable and thought that the game was over, they are a good side and they will punish you.
“The pleasing thing I thought was that when they had their little spell, we learned that how we get through teams having those spells is to make even more passes and controlling the game a little bit.
“I thought that the lads did that well at times today, and I think that the supporters are learning that that is how we want to play.
“We get control of the game by making those passes.
“It’s an unbelievable result, but we’re still not the finished article and we’ll keep on improving.
“We’re fortunate that we have some quality in our ranks that can score goals at good times.”
City had gone ahead through Pearce after a Male long ball dropped perfectly for the striker, who coolly slotted a strike past Brad Young.
Hinshelwood explained that attempted long balls was a tactic that the Minstermen often used to test their opponents, and he felt it provided the perfect platform for York to build upon.
The boss added: “It’s always the plan early on to play those forward passes and know how teams are going to press.
“Harrison has got that one where it has bounced just in front of the defenders and we’ve got off to a tee.
“We’re thankful that their defender has made one mistake and we’ve punished them.
“It’s what top strikers do, they get their moment and they put it away, and then the free-kick just before half-time.
“I think that we scored at good times, they had their spell and got their goal and we dealt with that well by doing our passing, which is good to see.”
Both Akinyemi and Nathaniel-George came off of the bench to register goals for City, having the desired impact that delighted Hinshelwood.
“I said to Ash and Dipo that sometimes in these big games, you need to have impacts.
“They’ll both be disappointed to not be starting, so I’m delighted that they both got on the scoresheet.
“That was the game plan, to introduce them both after 60 minutes and for them both to score, it worked out well for us.”
York are now four points clear after being the early kick-off, with title challengers Forest Green Rovers and Barnet still to play.
Hinshelwood was pleased to put pressure on their closest competitors, explaining: “That was one of the messages to the players with the early kick-off, if you are able to get three points then we can sit four points clear and put a bit of pressure on the team, enjoy this afternoon and watch the results come in.
“We won’t get too carried away, there’s so much football to play yet, and it’s down to us to keep building and keep improving.
“We’ve got a squad of players that want to do that as well.”
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