April 22, 2024...ANALYSIS; THREE THINGS WE LEARNED FROM SUNDAY'S DERBY DEFEAT (from York United FC)

ANALYSIS: THREE THINGS WE LEARNED FROM SUNDAY'S DERBY DEFEAT A huge crowd at York Lions Stadium was the major positive. THE DETAILS

York United were dominated by rivals Forge FC in Sunday's 905 derby as the defending champions recorded a resounding 3-0 win at York Lions Stadium. The Nine Stripes were playing in front of the home fans for the first time this term but the result was a bitter one to take. But here are three observations from the match.

EARLY DOMINATION

It was a scruff-of-the-neck approach from the blast of the whistle and York could have gone ahead by two goals in the opening 20 minutes but for some brave goalkeeping from Christopher Kalongo. On 14 minutes, Clement Bayiha shot at goal but the Forge FC’s gloves man parried it out and Brian Wright couldn’t convert a clear opportunity that came his way.

"I thought the first half was okay," said Head Coach Martin Nash in his post-game summation.

"We created a couple chances, so did they. It was a really naïve goal to give away - last kick of the half - which hurt going into halftime and then I don't think we rebounded from it. In the second half, we didn't play with urgency, we didn't get stuck in. We just kind of played a little bit, gifted them two goals with naive defending. So, it's very frustrating and it shows we have a lot to work on."

THE SPACE BETWEEN

The Gaffer perceived a significant disparity between his team and Bobby Smyrniotis’ side following the loss. When questioned about Forge potentially having a head start due to their participation in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, Nash responded: "Yeah, maybe a little bit."

He continued by saying: "I think there's a lot of players. Today, there's probably seven or eight regulars from past seasons so it makes things quite easy when you just keep rolling with the same core and maybe their early start helps them a little bit. So, they may be a bit more in midseason right now. We know it's gonna be a tough game because they're always tough opponents and we didn't deal with their overloads well, our communication was poor, in possession our urgency wasn't where it needed to be."

MASSIVE CROWD AT YLS

An improved crowd was inside York Lions Stadium to watch the season’s first 905 derby. This created an electrifying atmosphere, especially for the hardcore fans who were expecting York United to hit the ground running. York United FC's 'Your Club, Our Community' theme paid dividends. Too bad the result went the other way.

Ridwan Ibrahim Asante

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