McCOMBE FINDS A MAGIC TOUCH
NIGEL Worthington praised defender John McCombe after he responded to the manager’s plea to ease the goalscoring burden on York’s strikers.
Wes Fletcher extended his lead at the top of York’s goalscoring charts with a tenth minute penalty after Neal Trotman saw red for a late tackle on Ryan Bowman.
But it was centre-half McCombe who ensured York recorded their third away win in their last four outings with a well-taken double.
Josh Carson applied the gloss with a stunning fourth in the 90th minute as the Minstermen moved up three places to 11th in the table.
But despite boasting a ten-point cushion on the relegation zone, York boss Worthington insists his side are not safe from the drop
He said: “It is a great three points but it is important that our feet stay on the ground.
“There are teams below us with two of three more games to play so we need to stay focused and together. Their man getting sent off can distort the game a little bit but we played very well against ten men.
“We spoke in the week about needing goals from other departments and John McCombe has responded in style.
“He does well in the box and he is one of those players you know won’t be far away from the ball when it comes in.”
The game exploded into life on ten minutes when Bowman collected a defence-splitting pass from Fletcher to find himself in on goal.
Instead of opting to shoot first time, the striker cut inside Trotman and was duly brought down by the Argyle defender on the edge of the six-yard box.
Referee Charles Breakspear immediately pointed to the spot and produced a red card for Trotman.
Fletcher held his nerve to send Jake Cole the wrong way from the penalty spot for his 13th goal of the season.
Plymouth responded well and Reuben Reid was denied by a brilliant covering tackle from McCombe before Conor Hourihane lashed wide. But the contest was effectively over on the stroke of half-time after Bowman headed Will Hayhurst’s cross back across for McCombe to send a header past Cole.
York controlled the second half well and Fletcher tore down the left before crossing for Hayhurst to hit a thunderbolt that was superbly tipped over by the Argyle keeper.
York rubbed salt into Argyle wounds after some nifty footwork from Michael Coulson teed up McCombe to poke the ball home.
And the visitors piled on more misery in the 90th minute after Carson let fly with a stunning left-footed shot into the top corner.
Plymouth boss John Sheridan said:“I have got no excuses – it was just a bad day at the office for us.
“I thought we responded really well until they scored the second goal. That was the killer blow and we did look all over the place in the last ten minutes.
“It is never nice to lose a game 4-0 but we need to sweep it under the carpet.”
PLYMOUTH ARGYLE (4-3-3): Cole 6, Blanchard 6, Purrington 5, Blizzard 5, Trotman 4, Nelson 6, Hourihane 6, Banton 5 (Thomas 54 7), Boco 6 (Berry 54 6), Alessandra 5, Reid 6
Subs not used: Dawson, Young, Morgan, Harvey, Gurrieri YORK CITY (4-4-2): Pope 7, Oyebanjo 7, Davies 7, McCombe 8, Lowe 7, Carson 7, Hayhurst 7, Penn 7 (Montrose 79 6), Reed 7, Bowman 8 (Dickinson 90 N/A), Fletcher 7 (Coulson 68 7)
Subs not used: Ingham, Puri, Platt, McGurk