Scott Lindsey bemoans lack of cutting edge after York’s nervy win over Exeter
The Minstermen dominated throughout but were clinging on at the end.
Scott Lindsey was frustrated by York’s inability to build a bigger lead during their 2-1 victory against Exeter in League Two.
The Minstermen added to an impressive start back in the English Football League after a decade away by beating recently-relegated opponents thanks to goals from Alex Newby and debutant Jovan Malcolm.
But it was not the most glamorous of performances from Lindsey’s team, who struggled to break down a resilient Exeter side.
The visitors, who were missing key players Jayden Wareham and Luca Woodhouse amid transfer speculation, pulled one back through Jack Fitzwater to set up a nervy finish and Lindsey challenged his team to turn their possession into chances.
“It could have been and should have been more,” Lindsey said.
“I was disappointed to concede a goal right at the death there, I think we came a little too deep on that moment and were a bit nervy maybe to see the game through.
“I thought we were really good today, we played really well and I thought we were the better team.
“We came in at half-time and one thing I said was that we’d had a lot of the ball. I think we’d had 76 per cent possession, which is high, but we’ve only had two shots on goal and four touches in their box.
“For me, I wanted us to get into more territory with our possession, and that was the key message.
“We could have asked more questions of them, but we started the game really well.
“Then it kind of petered out to not much more after that, so it was the only thing I said to the players, can we turn all of that possession into a few more goals and chances.”
Exeter boss Matt Taylor confirmed Wareham and Woodhouse did not travel for the game, but said the club had not accepted any bids yet.
“Jayden and Luca were not available today,” Taylor said.
“There’s obviously lots of things going on behind the scenes. We’ve not accepted anything bid-wise. Both players felt it right that they didn’t travel with the team so they weren’t available for today’s game.”
Taylor’s mood was not helped when he was forced to replace Sonny Cox at half-time.
“Sonny’s had an allergic reaction – we don’t know what to – but he was struggling in the first half,” he added.
“We got some medication into him at half-time but you could see he was quite distressed before the second half. If it’s not one thing it’s another. And we were forced into an early change.”
But he added: “The way the lads kept going in adversity on a difficult day for the club because we were a few players down…I admired what we became as the game went on.”