Match Report: York City 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday

A 1-1 draw against newly-promoted Championship outfit Sheffield Wednesday marked the start of the new ownership at York City.

A strong side was named by the Owls in the first half, with Barry Bannan starting, but they could only manage a single goal before the break.

Dan Pybus' sloppy backpass was intercepted by an alert Josh Windass, who broke forward to slot home after 26 minutes.

New York signing Finlay Barnes' eagerness to show the City faithful his talent was a success, scoring a tap-in at the back post with only his first touch since entering the field, just before the hour mark.

The Minstermen kicked off their new era in front of a lively LNER Community Stadium, as over 2,000 Sheffield Wednesday fans made the trip to York for their first match since promotion back to the Championship.

Neither team posed much of a threat inside the opening ten minutes, barring some good work from Reece James down the left to win his Wednesday side a corner, which was easily claimed by Ryan Whitley.

The visitors looked to trouble Whitley's goal again on 16 minutes, with a clever flick by seasoned professional Barry Bannan providing Luke Cook with a decent opportunity on the edge of the box - some solid defending from York averted any sniff of an opener.

A couple of minutes later came a one-on-one down the same end of the pitch, with Lee Gregory having burst through the middle, but the City stopper remained big to block the eventual effort.

Despite the chances for the Owls, Lenell John-Lewis was eager to give the home side the lead - a looping cross was aimed towards him but it had just too much height on it for the York City talisman to connect with.

However, he couldn't do anything about the first goal of the afternoon, from Josh Windass, who had intercepted a dodgy backpass just outside the hosts' 18-yard box, and coolly slotted home.

An attempt to level things up arrived through John-Lewis again, the striker reaching to divert one in the direction of the top corner, but the effort was so narrowly wide.

Both sides fielded a fairly different side in the second half, but it was Minstermen who appeared to be on the front foot in the opening stages with fresh energy injected.

Link-up play between experienced York men Mitch Hancox and Michael Duckworth allowed the latter a driven shot wide of the bottom stick moments after the restart.

Then it was Scott Burgess' time to step up, fiercely striking a free kick from directly in front of the target, denied by the fingertip of Cameron Dawson.

The resulting corner was equally close to a leveller for Michael Morton's men, Dawson forced to get down low to claim a well-struck header from Adam Crookes at the back post.

Burgess soon made way - new signing Finlay Barnes was his replacement, and the young ex-Leiston playmaker didn't take long to prove his worth.

A cheeky low ball across the face of goal from fellow new man Levi Andoh found Barnes at the back post, and the promising midfielder made no mistake in tapping home to level things up, two minutes short of the hour mark.

So close to what would have been a brace for the 22-year-old, his curling shot from distance was unluckily averted by a deflection.

Ex-Owl David Stockdale was forced into action for the first time back in a York City shirt, coming off his line to gather a ball in behind the defence.

There was to be one final chance in the friendly, falling to City's Duckworth, but his hopeful effort flew well over the target.

York City:
First Half - Whitley, Crookes, Sanders, Pybus, Fallowfield, Latty-Fairweather, Trialist A, Burgess, Hurst (Hancox 27’), John-Lewis, Kouhyar

Second Half - Stockdale, Crookes, Sanders (Trialist B 59’), Duckworth, Andoh, McLaughlin, Dyson, Hancox, Burgess (Barnes 55’), Kouhyar (Siziba 59’), Main

Goals: Barnes (60’)

Sheffield Wednesday:
Dawson (Charles, 61’), Iorfa (Onukwuli, 46’), Brennan (Fusire, 61’), Famewo (Paterson, 45’), James (Ihiekwe, 45’), Johnson (Smith, 45’), Bakinson (Alimi-Adetoro, 45’), Bannan (Glover, 45’), Cook (Phuthi, 61’), Gregory (Flanney, 45’), Windass (Vaulks, 45’)

Goals: Windass (26’)