SHOTS FIRE AT SORRY YORK
ALDERSHOT compounded the woe for beleaguered York City boss Jackie McNamara after Bernard Mensah’s first-half goal secured a narrow victory.
Home supporters chanted “Jackie Out” at Bootham Crescent as the struggling Minstermen racked up a fifth straight match without scoring.
Gary Waddock’s visitors only managed two attempts on target themselves all afternoon but still stretched their unbeaten record to an eighth game to climb into the National League play-off places.
And with six shut-outs now from 13 matches, Waddock hailed his side’s miserly nature.
He said: “If you keep clean sheets, it gives you a chance. We’ve got a good goalkeeper and good defenders, but it’s not just about the back four.
“It’s about the whole team and squad unit, because we defend from the front and everybody worked extremely hard for each other to see this result through. We showed a bit of everything in the game.
“We had spells of good possession and got a fantastic goal from Mensah. During the second half, we then had to dig in and showed all the qualities needed to be a good team.
“York were after a result and had some spells of possession, but I thought we defended really, really well. They put balls in and we got our head to the them by being first to the challenge.”
Aldershot’s only other shot of the game saw home keeper Kyle Letheren make a smart save from Jake Gallagher’s 15-yard shot on six minutes. Shamir Fenelon then somehow cleared both the crossbar and the ground from four yards out after good work by Mensah down the left before the visitors forged ahead on 29 minutes. Full-back Nick Arnold and Matt McClure combined down the same flank to release Mensah clear on goal and, after springing the offside trap, he blasted emphatically past an exposed Letheren. York improved after the break but Jake Cole was equal to efforts from Matty Dixon, Danny Galbraith and former Shots striker Richard Brodie, while skipper Simon Heslop shot just wide. The Minstermen, without an away victory in 28 games, now visit bottom club Guiseley, who are still to win this season, on Tuesday night, with McNamara vowing to fight on. He said: “When the team doesn’t win, it falls on me, but it’s not for the want of trying and I’m not one for giving up. I’ve been a fighter all my life. “Going back to my wife and kids in Scotland would be the easiest thing I could do, but I came here to change the football club and I intend to do that until the chairman tells me otherwise. Getting rid of me would also be the easiest thing for the chairman to do, but he still believes in what we’re trying to do.”