A beige first half

A slow start to the game and an insipid first half display cost York United the points on the road. Martin Nash’s side started on the wrong foot and paid dearly. Amer Didic, left unmarked inside the box, sent a thumping downward header to the net from a corner-kick after just seven minutes. Three minutes before the break, Manny Aparicio dropped his shoulders to sublimely shoot past Niko Giantsopoulos after being put through inside the box.

The Gaffer explained: "I don't think it was defensive organization, it was just tracking runners - which was one of the keys to the game for us. We had to track runners because we knew their midfield runs and our timing. I know it's hard - it's 30 degrees and maybe harder on the turf. But when we press and we don't go at the right times and we're late, then teams can play through you - especially teams with the quality of Pacific. The second goal was just two guys being late when we're pressing. They're in good positions, just late, so they caught us there."

Gilt-edged chances squandered

There were as many as three glorious opportunities that - if converted - would have at least earned a point for The Nine Stripes. Trailing 1-0, York United pushed for the leveller and an opportunity presented itself in the 28th minute. Kevin dos Santos went on a raid on the left side and delivered a low cross which went straight to Brian White - who had lost his marker - but his connection went agonizingly off target.

Following Dos Santos' superb second-half corner-kick that halved the deficit, Pacific goalkeeper Emil Gazdov gifted the ball to Wright, who played Austin Ricci through on goal. But the latter shot against the goalkeeper and the rebound was headed over the frame by Elijah Adekugbe. Just past the hour mark, Wright’s low header - from another quality Dos Santos cross - was palmed out by Gazdov to keep the scoreline at 2-1. A goal at that moment would have turned the game on its head with York United having a lion's share of territorial dominance.

An Olimpico from a special player

Kevin Dos Santos has been a consistent performer in the last few games and Sunday’s performance was eye-catching. He scored a goal-of-the-season contender by whipping a corner-kick straight into the net and also provided two decent crosses - in either half - which Brian Wright couldn't steer to the net. The Portuguese winger completed the most dribbles in the match and won the most duels too. What a way to celebrate your first club goal in 18 league appearances.

press comes with a cost

The Nine Stripes were in the driving seat and calling all the shots in the second half as they went in search of an equalizer. They dropped their guards and got punished in the 82nd minute when David Brazao scored to restore Pacific’s two-goal cushion.

"When we're pushing forward, we're going with reckless abandon instead of making sure we're doing the same things - keeping numbers behind the ball so that we don't get caught out," said Nash.

He added: "It's something we'll have to reiterate and we did well for most of the game, but we didn't protect against the counter late on and guys were out of position. At the end of the day it wasn't good enough."

Ridwan Ibrahim Asante

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