York head to Blundell Park this Saturday in fine fettle, sitting fifth in League Two and unbeaten in their last five matches. Their hosts, Grimsby Town, have found wins hard to come by lately, dropping to 14th place ahead of the League Two clash.
The 2-0 victory over Port Vale last Friday was a perfect demonstration of York's current strengths. Zak Johnson opened the scoring in the 54th minute before Alex Hunt, who provided the assist for the first, added a second just seven minutes later. That result extended their unbeaten sequence to five games, a run that includes three draws and two wins. They have taken 20 points from their opening 12 fixtures, leaving them just five points behind the leaders, Salford City. Their record of five wins, five draws and two losses has them firmly in the play-off places, with 21 goals scored and 13 conceded.
Recent results
York's form guide shows a team that is hard to beat. Since a 3-0 win over Gillingham in late September, they have drawn with Northampton, Newport County and Accrington Stanley before last week's win. Their recent form of two wins and three draws in the last five, including the 1-1 draw with Accrington Stanley on Tuesday 20 October where Ollie Pearce scored a late equaliser, underlines their resilience. Their defence has been a cornerstone, conceding only 13 goals all season for a healthy +8 goal difference.
Grimsby's recent path has been more erratic. A 4-1 away win at Gillingham on the same night York beat Port Vale snapped a four-game winless streak in the league. Prior to that, they had lost to Northampton and Port Vale and drawn with Rochdale.
Team news
York are expected to stick with the 3-4-2-1 formation that served them well against Port Vale. That lineup featured Alfie Shane McNally in goal behind a back three of R. Fallowfield, Z. Johnson and M. Kitching. The wing-backs were J. Hunt and H. Boyes, with O. Banks and A. Hunt in central midfield supporting attackers A. Read, F. Maguire and striker O. Pearce.
Grimsby lined up in a 4-1-4-1 shape for their last outing, with C. Pym in goal and a midfield anchored by G. Turi behind an attacking quartet. The focus for York will be on maintaining their defensive discipline while looking for opportunities to exploit on the break, as they did so effectively last week.
After this trip to Cleethorpes, attention turns quickly to another tough away fixture. York travel to face second-placed Barnet on Tuesday night, a match that will provide another stern test of their promotion credentials. Following that, their next fixture is away to Barnet on Tuesday 27 October.
