Rochdale 1-1 York City: 103rd minute equaliser sends York back to EFL
Rochdale 1-1 York City: 103rd minute equaliser sends York back to EFL The first straight shoot-out title decider in England’s top five leagues this century saw York promoted back to League Two after a last-gasp equaliser from Josh Stones secured their return after a decade away. Neither side was at their best going forward this afternoon, but both defences held strong until deep into injury time when Dieseruvwe erupted the Crown Oil Arena with what appeared to be the golden goal. However, Josh Stones had other ideas and netted a 103rd minute equaliser to send York back to League Two.
Rochdale will now hove to go through the play-offs if they are to win promotion this season, despite racking up 106 points this term, it simply wasn’t enough in the end. As It Happened York City named an unchanged side from their 3-0 win over Yeovil Town last time out, while Rochdale made one change, with Aidan Barlow replaced by 22-year-old Dan Moss. The ball was in the net for Rochdale after just eight minutes, but the referee disallowed the shot for a foul on Harrison Male.
The Dale’s first chance of the game saw Luke Hannant fire over from the edge of the area. York came close to opening the scoring in the 18th minute, when Ollie Pearce forced a strong save from Oliver Whatmuff. The first yellow card of the day was shown to York’s Ollie Banks, his sixth of the season, for a late tackle on Moss.
The resultant free-kick saw Rochdale pile bodies into the box, but the cross was well dealt with by the City defence. It was Pearce who once again went in search of an opener on the half-hour mark, but he was denied by a brilliant block from Ethan Ebanks-Landell. Ryan East was the second name in the referee’s notebook minutes later, following a foul on Alex Hunt.
Whatmuff was penalised after 36 minutes, with the referee judging him to have handled the ball outside of his penalty area, but Ben Brookes couldn’t hit the target from the free-kick. The visitors won a string of corners shortly before half-time, but the Rochdale defence held strong, keeping the match goalless after the first 45 minutes. Hannant took on another ambitious effort at the start of the second half, but his strike fizzed wide.
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