ADAM HINSHELWOOD’S wait for a first win as York City manager continued after mistakes and wretched defending saw the Minstermen fall 6-1 to Altrincham.
Altrincham overran and took advantage of some fragile York defence, consigning the Minstermen to a disastrous defeat with goals from Justin Amaluzor, Jake Cooper, Alex Newby, Chris Conn-Clarke and an own goal from George Sykes-Kenworthy.
Maz Kouhyar seized the crucial moments after returning from Herefore and celebrated his comeback with a superb consolation strike to bring a brief smile to the traveling City fans.
But a truly disastrous night for the Minstermen sees Hinshelwood’s side 23rd in the Vanarama National League table, three points adrift and with the third-worst goal difference in the league.
Altrincham, on the other hand, managed to sneak into the play-off positions with a dominant display at the J Davidson Stadium.
Hinshelwood made two changes to the Minstermen team that drew goalless with Kidderminster Harriers on Saturday; Billy Chadwick and Dan Batty were relegated to the bench.
They were replaced by Alex Hunt and Lenell John-Lewis; City lined up in a 4-3-3 formation in attack; Paddy McLaughlin at left back and three forwards led the line.
Altrincham started the game by announcing a signing before kick-off, with former Manchester United and Brentford youngster Max Haygarth on the bench.
The highly regarded Conn-Clarke started in the number ten role for Alty, with former City shot-stopper Ethan Ross starting between the sticks in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
York’s recent form has been disastrous with them going seven games without a win, but Altrincham find themselves in a similar position with six defeats in their last seven games.
Even so, it wouldn’t be surprising if there was a presumed gap between the two sides in a frantic first half.
With just two minutes left, Altrincham took the lead instantly thanks to a mistake from Sykes-Kenworthy and Jones’ cross was mistakenly pushed into his own goal by the unchallenged City goalkeeper.
Altrincham continued their fast start with Amaluzor expertly finding Matty Kosylo with a clever passing pass, but the former Halifax Town winger was unable to trouble Sykes-Kenworthy as he lifted his effort over the crossbar.
City had a shot on target in the first half, before some tackles from Dipo Akinyemi gave Will Davies space to slot Ross’ gloves in from the edge of the area.
But the Robins exploited the fragility and doubled their lead as York struggled to seize a meaningful opportunity.
On a counter-attack two City defenders had to tackle four onrushing Altrincham attackers before Alex Newby spread the ball wide towards Amaluzor, who fired a superb strike into the bottom right corner.
Attempts on goal by both John-Lewis and Castro did not trouble Alty; The second cleared the stand, before Sykes-Kenworthy impressively stopped George Wilson’s long-range effort over the bar.
Conn-Clarke tried to make his usual impact on the home side but could only fire a fierce effort into the side netting from 25 yards out.
However, as the half-time whistle quickly approached, Altrincham ended the half as they had started it.
Disastrous defending by the Minstermen saw three consecutive unsuccessful shots fall to Cooper; Cooper lobbed the loose ball home via a deflection, a funny way of conceding.
York fans believed the situation could only get better in the second half, and although there were signs of improvement there would be no sign of a comeback.
Perhaps sensing that the game was already won, Altrincham opted to make a double substitution at half-time, with Sam Roscoe and Dan Mooney replacing Kosylo and Banks.
However, City started the second half better than the first; Ryan Fallowfield’s cross was headed goalwards by Davies, but was smothered by Ross.
John-Lewis saw a strike clear the crossbar before Akinyemi missed a potential opportunity and the Minstermen introduced Kouhyar for his first appearance since returning to the club from Hereford.
The winger would also make an immediate impact, scoring an unstoppable strike from 25 meters out and perhaps offering a glimmer of hope to those incredible traveling fans.
But just six minutes later Altrincham quickly regained their three-goal advantage when Sykes-Kenworthy produced another ill-fated effort to make a disastrous night for City’s shot-stopper even worse.
Newby’s long-range effort looked comfortable for the goalkeeper, but Sykes-Kenworthy made another mistake after slotting the ball into his own goal.
Conn-Clarke went close with a curling shot that fell narrowly wide of the target, before making a fine stop to deny Ross Davies.
The Altrincham attacker wouldn’t have to wait long to get on the scoresheet as Conn-Clarke added to his impressive goal tally with Altrincham’s sixth goal with a balanced finish.
York’s embarrassing night got worse as time wound down and Altrincham added their sixth.
A loose ball behind the City defense was met by Newby, who raced unchallenged into the box before scoring a calm finish between the legs of Sykes-Kenworthy.
York will hope to respond when they take on Aldershot Town at the LNER Community Stadium on Saturday (3pm) as Hinshelwood’s quest for a first win continues.
ALTRINCHAM: Ross, Banks (Roscoe, 46), Jones, Baines, Cooper, Kosylo (Mooney, 46), Osborne, Wilson, Conn-Clarke, Amaluzor (Haygarth, 73), Newby
Unused substitutes: Angus, Gould
Goals: Sykes-Kenworthy OG (2), Amaluzor (26), Cooper (45), Newby (71, 86), Conn-Clarke (81)
Yellow cards: Kosylo (24), Ross (84)
YORK CITY: Sykes-Kenworthy 4, Fallowfield 5, Howe 5, Smith 5, McLaughlin 4 (Latty-Fairweather 6, 50), Hunt 5, Woodyard 6, Castro 5 (Chadwick 6, 50), Davies 5, John-Lewis 6 (Kouhyar 7) ) , 57), Akinyemi 5
Unused subscribers: Watson, Batty
Goals: Kouhyar (65)
York’s star man: The fans. A tremendous effort from traveling supporters who were unfortunately disappointed with the show.
Referee: David Richardson
Participation: 1554 (269)
Shots (on target): 10 (9) | 3 (5)
Corners: 7 | 5
Offside: 2 | 0
Fouls committed: 3 | 12