Seventeen years ago to the day York enjoyed one of the greatest moments in
their history - but on this occasion there was no Keith Houchen to emerge the
hero.
Houchen, who more famously scored an FA Cup final winner with a stunning
header in the 1987 final when Coventry beat Tottenham, stroked home a
last-minute penalty on January 26, 1985, to give York a shock fourth-round
triumph over then First Division big guns Arsenal.
There was to be no repeat, though, of such a stunning Bootham Crescent victory
as goals from Steed Malbranque and Steve Marlet ended brave York's bid for
giantkilling glory with goals either side of half time.
This was certainly a tie which captured the very essence of the FA Cup - the
nouveau riche of the Premiership against the paupers of the Third Division, with
York's players facing the prospect of life on the dole at the end of the
season.
Chairman Douglas Craig decided to put York up for sale earlier this month and,
having served notice the club will quit the Football League unless a buyer is
found by April 1, he had received widespread condemnation from City supporters.
Craig is far from a popular figure, highlighted by the fact one banner
unfurled in the build-up to the game read 'York City - Stolen by Greed', while
another in large white letters on a red background simply stated 'Save City'.
Minutes prior to kick-off a large section of the York fans then broke into a
chant of 'There's only one Fayed', showing their appreciation of Fulham owner
Mohamed Al Fayed's generous donation this week to the York City Supporters'
Trust.
Fayed was willing to donate Fulham's share of the gate receipts from the game
to the struggling Minstermen, only for Craig, despite York more than £1million
in debt and losing £15,000 per week, to spurn the offer.
Billionaire Harrods-owner Fayed is now due to give the proceeds - around
£50,000 as Fulham's 45žut of the 7,563 attendance figure - to the
recently-formed Trust.
The Trust, in conjunction with what they describe as "sensible investors",
are still hopeful of purchasing York from Craig, however he has warned them they
would not be able to afford the asking price.
At present, Flamingoland owner and millionaire businessman Gordon Gibb and
John Batchelor, owner-driver of the Honda Integrity Racing Team, are just two of
the parties who have expressed an interest in taking over.
There are some suggestions Craig is asset-stripping the club as he looks to
make a healthy profit on his 67% stake.
Manager Terry Dolan's team of free transfers - he has not bought a player for
six years since his days when he was boss at Hull - at least gave the potential
new owners hope the team will fight for the future cause.
Perhaps York's clearest opportunity came after just 25 seconds as a Michael
Proctor cross was blocked by Alain Goma, only for Gary Hobson to drive his
12-yard shot into the grateful arms of Edwin van der Sar as the ball fell kindly
to him.
Although Fulham played the marginally better football in the first half, as
manager Jean Tigana gave York the respect they deserved by fielding a strong
line-up, chances were far from plentiful.
Marlet - at £11.5million his right leg costs as much as Craig wants for his
club - saw a header cleared off the line by Graham Potter before keeper Alan
Fettis saved superbly from Malbranque.
Marlet was also soon denied by the former Northern Ireland international,
seeing his close-range header tipped over the bar, before Fulham finally eased
their nerves in the 25th minute.
Trainee Lee Bullock was dispossessed midway inside his own half, leading to
Louis Saha expertly feeding Malbranque who this time made no mistake with his
second one-on-one opportunity as he tucked the ball home beyond an advancing
Fettis.
York could easily have collapsed from that point, but to their credit they
then more than held their own with their more illustrious opponents,
particularly in a stunning second half.
Skipper Chris Brass had talked about the magic of the FA Cup prior to the tie,
but this was one of those days when the rub of the green eluded the underdog.
The ball simply refused to fall kindly for City, who applied firm pressure,
only for their dreams to be killed off by the route one game more akin with the
Third Division as Marlet raced onto van der Sar's punt before delivering a crisp
finish.
Just moments before the final whistle the entire York team was announced as
the 'man of the match' by the game's sponsors, before they were then given a
standing ovation as they left the pitch from both sets of supporters proving
fans do unite in times of crisis.
Teams:
York: Fettis, Edmondson, Basham, Hocking, Hobson (Duffield 77),
Potter, Cooper, Brass, Bullock, Nogan (Mathie 83), Proctor.
Subs Not Used: Howarth, Smith, Richardson.
Booked: Nogan.
Fulham: Van der Sar, Finnan, Melville, Goma, Brevett,
Legwinski, Collins (Goldbaek 74), Knight, Malbranque, Saha,
Marlet.
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Ouaddou, Willock, Stolcers.
Booked: Marlet, Collins.
Goals: Malbranque 26, Marlet 85.
Att: 7,563
Ref: J Winter (Stockton-on-Tees).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook