FLINDERS’ SLIPPERY FINGERS PROVE SO COSTLY FOR YORK
JACKIE McNAMARA backed Scott Flinders to bounce back after theYork City goalkeeper made two costly errors in his side’s defeat at Cambridge United.
Flinders failed to deal with a Ryan Haynes cross which was headed in by Jimmy Spencer to put the U’s in front, and in the second half he spilled a Spencer shot, allowing Ben Williamson to tap in for the home side’s third goal.
Josh Coulson had made it 2-0 to Cambridge, before James Berrett’s thunderbolt halved the deficit.
“It wasn’t Scott’s best performance, but a good number of players were off their game,” said York boss McNamara. “He’s made a couple of costly errors, but over the time I’ve been here he’s saved us more often than not. He’ll learn from it and be ready for Tuesday’s game with Northampton.
“All three goals were preventable, which is disap-
pointing. We didn’t handle them physically, and they played the conditions better than us, and that was the difference in the game.”
Struggling York came into the match on the back of two successive victories, and almost got off to the dream start when Michael Coulson’s free-kick rattled the crossbar.
But three minutes later Spencer was on hand to nod in at the back post, and from then on Cambridge took charge.
Coulson made it two when he found space to convert Harrison Dunk’s corner, but the visitors were back in it when Berrett seized on a loose clearance and smashed the ball past Will Norris from outside the box.
Cambridge, with the outstanding Spencer at the heart of much of their good work, resumed their domination after the restart, with Williamson going close on two occasions before he pounced on Flinders’ mistake.
The only sour note for U’s boss Shaun Derry was a missed penalty from skipper Luke Berry, who chipped the ball over the bar from 12 yards after Leon Legge had been fouled.
“Everybody makes mistakes, and it was the wrong decision for Luke,” said Derry, who substituted Berry shortly after the miss.
“He held his hands up when we got back to the dressing room.
“We controlled the game from start to finish, and could have scored a lot more goals. We absolutely deserved the three points.
“Jimmy Spencer was excellent up top, and led the line for us very well.
“I know Jimmy inside out, he’s going to be a very good player for this football club between now and the end of the season.”