HAVE you ever wondered where our journey ends? Is the end goal to get back into the Football League or maybe the National League? Well, for me, the journey ends when we get to play in big games week in, week out like Tuesday night’s match at York. That particular fixture has come about a year or two earlier than I was expecting given the spectacular fall from grace suffered by the Minstermen, but there is nothing better than a proper crowd in a proper ground and an enthralling game to match.

Before the game, I was interested to see where York were in terms of quality. Would they be better than Salford? I think they emphatically confirmed that. They’re better by some margin. What Tuesday’s game showed was that York will be right up there challenging for the title; and we’ll be right there with them.

The first half certainly tested our nerves. Despite having three reasonable chances of our own, it was all about York. Clearly enjoying attacking their home end, it required every last ounce of effort from our guys. Nobody shirked their responsibilities. It was a spectacular rearguard showing with Adam Bartlett more than earning his corn with some fine saves. You could almost see the collective sigh of relief as the referee blew up for half time.

The second half was a different beast all together. With Gary Brown going off injured at half time, it allowed us to get an extra man in midfield and that made a difference. Phil Turnbull and Dave Syers had been swamped in the first 45, but with Leon Scott joining them in the second half, we began to repel our hosts higher up the pitch which gave us the opportunity to carve out some pretty decent goalscoring opportunities. Speaking on BBC York after the game, City’s midfielder Simon Heslop highlighted the extra man in midfield as why the balance of the game shifted. Speaking of BBC York, it was nice to listen some comprehensive post-game analysis of a game. There seemed to be plenty of compliments from the home fans for our endeavours which was pleasing to hear.

Based on the performances at Salford and York, it’s starting to look like we have improved over the summer break. I’m fairly certain last season’s team would have cracked under the pressure faced in the first half on Tuesday. If we can defend like that when facing the better teams in the league while clearly still carrying a considerable goal threat, there is no reason why we can’t be challenging the likes of York and Salford for the top spot come the end of the season.

Like at Salford, it was really difficult to pick out a star man when every player was having to operate at the top of their game but for me, the player that impressed was Terry Galbraith. He did his job in the first half at left back but when he was called upon to move in to the centre in the second half, he was absolutely superb. He won every battle and he read the game perfectly. I’ve said it before and will say it again; there’s a centre half waiting to be released in Galbraith. As it is, we have a whole squadron of centre halves so he’ll have to wait to see if that ever comes to fruition.

Hopefully, we can carry the performance from Tuesday into Saturday’s home game with AFC Telford United. Having successfully completed a smash-and-grab raid on York on the opening day of the season, Telford have lost their last three games. We’ve got to make sure that our performance at Bootham Crescent wasn’t in vain and get the three points and I have no doubt a similar level of showing will see us secure the win.