York City draw ‘fair result’ after late equalizer against Halifax

After Florent Huty’s stunning goal in the 49th minute, York were able to snatch something from the game in stoppage time, with McLaughlin scoring from close range after being set up by Scott Burgess.

Millington felt the physicality and added pressure of the local derby got the better of his team, and was disappointed with how Halifax responded to taking the lead.

“It was probably a fair result in terms of the balance of play,” Millington told the Halifax Courier.

“We shaded certain aspects of the game, we had more chances, we had more shots.

“Overall, it felt like a local derby, and certainly as the game went on, it became a bit tense, a bit hectic and a bit more direct.

“Neither team controlled the game for long, so overall, we should be happy with one point.

He added: “Getting a point away from home is always a positive, especially in a local derby, because they can go either way.

“I think the disappointment for us has more to do with our failure to control the game when we went 1-0 up.

“We had been very comfortable in the game up to that point, and even then we created a few real clear chances but failed to put pressure on the keeper.

“Flo Huti scored an absolute world-class goal to give us a 1-0 lead, but he missed a much easier chance a few minutes later.

“Melli Ali worked incredibly hard today and didn’t have a lot of chances, and then the one he got, which he largely created for himself, put him over the bar.

“These are the differences between the teams that will finish in the top three or four and the rest of the teams.

“If we want to really go at the top of the division, we have to seize those opportunities.

“If we played them, we would have won the game by 2 or 3 nil very comfortably and I think York might have struggled to muster a response, but we failed to do that and as a result, we gave them a chance.”

Millington was disappointed to concede McLaughlin’s draw so late, but did not address the result.

“Anyone who knows the league knows you can be vulnerable to that late.

“If this game had been on Tuesday instead of today, I think we would have won it because we had a little extra energy in the legs and were able to put in a little more effort in the crucial moments.

“But the players have given everything they can in the last few weeks and it is perhaps a bit greedy of me to expect them to go on and beat a team that is fighting for its life at the moment and trying to build a career for themselves.”