YORK City resurrected their play-off push with an excellent 2-1 Easter Saturday victory at play-off rivals Burton Albion.

Back-to-back home defeats and a return of two points from a possible 12 had seen City's top-five credentials put under serious scrutiny before the trip to Burton.

But a performance to rank alongside those at fellow high-fliers Stevenage, Morecambe, Gravesend and Exeter this season saw City breathe new life into their play-off challenge.

With four fixtures left to play of the regulation season, the importance of this result is hard to over-estimate.

Defeat at Burton would have seen City slip out of the play-off positions for the first time in 2007 and given their Derbyshire hosts a two-point advantage with a game in hand.

Victory, though, means Billy McEwan's men have ensured their destiny is now in their own hands after an excellent team effort sprinkled with some outstanding individual displays.

A string of crucial stops from Tom Evans, including an impressive double save, prevented the visitors trailing by two goals inside the first 20 minutes.

As City settled, centre-backs David McGurk and Danny Parslow also defended with determination and intelligence. McGurk won his aerial battles and made several telling tackles.

He also provided an assuring presence for Parslow on his return to the back-four, appearing to relish the responsibility of assuming leadership qualities.

The performances of on-loan pair Jason Goodliffe and, latterly, Janos Kovacs, have eased that burden but he was back to his commanding best at Burton.

Parslow, for his part, caused McGurk little cause for concern alongside him and on-loan Gainsborough right-back Ben Purkiss restricted another highly-rated Conference left-winger in Keith Gilroy to barely a kick, just as he had done Lee Elam on his debut at Exeter.

The second-half then saw Martyn Woolford take centre stage, scoring the first goal of the game on 71 minutes and then creating a second for Craig Farrell.

Andy Corbett bagged an injury-time consolation for the Brewers but City held on for their first win in five matches.

Earlier, Evans had been called into action in the 15th minute when he fingertipped over an Alex Nicholls shot on the turn.

Moments later, he dived low to his right to save an Aaron Webster header from a Gilroy corner before former City loan striker Jon Shaw's shot was blocked.

Evans then palmed out a Nicholls strike from the edge of the box before smothering Shaw's follow-up effort from six yards.

Having withstood that early onslaught, City pegged Burton back in similar fashion from the restart after the home side had lost both Shaw and skipper Darren Stride to first-half injuries.

A 15-yard strike from Steve Bowey was ruled out for offside on 47 minutes and Clayton Donaldson fired into the side-netting from a difficult angle shortly afterwards with an unmarked Farrell screaming for a square pass.

Farrell's heavy touch then saw him fail to capitalise on a perfect Woolford cross, presenting the ball to grateful home 'keeper Kevin Poole.

McGurk's header also clipped the top of the bar from a Purkiss free-kick and Farrell saw another opportunity brilliantly blocked by home defender John Brayford.

Woolford eventually made the breakthrough, seizing on a loose ball 30 yards from goal before unleashing a low shot into Poole's bottom left-hand corner from the edge of the box.

The former Frickley winger, playing on the right flank, then drove into the penalty box from a wide position on 80 minutes, weaved past a Webster challenge and fired in a low shot that Poole could only parry.

Farrell was on hand to sidefoot in his tenth goal of the season from eight yards even if he did not make the truest of contacts.

Burton pulled a goal back when Corbett spun and beat Evans from six yards with the aid of a slight deflection off Parslow after a Webster long throw.

An anxious finale then ensued with McGurk surviving strong penalty appeals amid a frenzied scramble and Gilroy volleying narrowly over from 15 yards before City could celebrate victory in a match that could prove pivotal come April 28.

Match facts

Burton Albion 1 (Corbett 90), York City 2 (Woolford 71, Farrell 80)York City: Evans 9, Purkiss 9 (Greenwood 73, 7), Parslow 9, McGurk 9, James 8, Bishop 8 (Greenwood 88), Panther 8, Woolford 9, Bowey 7 (Brodie 84), Farrell 8, Donaldson 7.

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): Gamble, Lloyd, Convery.

Star man: Evans - Woolford in the second half pushed him close but the 'keeper's heroics before the break should not be forgotten.

Burton Albion: Kevin Poole, John Brayford, Ryan Austin, Darren Stride (Darren Tinson, 43), Aaron Webster, Andy Corbett, Danny Holmes (Lee Bell, 84), Paul Carden, Keith Gilroy, Jon Shaw (Shaun Harrad, 30), Alex Nicholls. Subs not used: Daryl Clare, Andy Ducros.

Bookings: Farrell 86.

Sent off: None.

Referee: Darren Cann (Norfolk). Rating: One of the best performances by an official in a City game this season. Did very little wrong.

Attendance: 2,718.

Weather watch: City fans were bare-chested for comfort rather than bravado. Mild.

Game breaker: Evans' double save in the first half when City were under the cosh and struggling to stay on level terms.

Match rating: Two talented teams who both enjoyed spells of superiority. City took their chances in the second-half to claim a crucial win.

Billy verdict: "We created a few problems in the first-half but Tom made a couple of fantastic saves. Some of our movement and football was excellent in the second-half."

Player watch: Danny Parslow

Goal attempts on target: 0Goal attempts off target: 0Blocked goal attempts: 0Passes to own player: 9 Passes to opposition: 0Crosses to own player: 0 Crosses to opposition: 0Pass success rate: 100 per cent Dribbles ball retained: 1Dribbles ball lost: 0Dribble success rate: 100 per cent Headers: 26 Tackles: 3 Clearances, blocks and interceptions: 6 Free-kicks won: 2Free-kicks conceded: 1 Offsides: 0Bookings: 0 Final summary: Made an assured and focussed return to defence, winning impressive number of headers and his distribution was perfect throughout. Could have closed down Andy Corbett quicker before his deflected consolation strike but must have been physically and mentally tired considering lack of match fitness.