Manchester has, according to the knowledgeable Stephen Morrissey, so much to answer for. Well if that's true (and I for one regard the musings of the former Smiths' leader as gospel) then York can't be far behind.

What a strange world York City supporters live in. During half time we were berated with a common theme to emerge from their current financial plight, one that has reared its head on City message boards amongst other places - it goes along the lines of "if you were a proper football fan you would put your hand in your pocket and bail us out". The manner in which the sneering announcer attempted to put down Hull City fans daring to sing a football song while he begged the "3,000 diehard regular supporters" to play a lottery game based on the Daily Telegraph's weather forecasts (I'm not making this up, honest!) was just about the most bizarre and introspectively stupid thing I've ever heard in a football ground.

I feel genuine sorrow for York, they have clearly been rudely shafted from behind by Douglas Craig, who preferred the shilling of Persimmon Homes to the challenge of keeping a football club afloat and sold his soul - and more crucially, Bootham Crescent - to the house building devil. The programme trolleys on about how the ground may be worthless to Persimmon anyway as they have no planning permission (which is arrant nonsense, the ground is surrounded by residential streets and housing developers are not renowned for betting on races with more than one horse) and begs for all of football to back up their cause. But I would, if involved in the Minstermen's campaign, stop myself and ask why a city of 100,000 population can't muster support from within for its ailing team. The truth is that York City has for decades had a small club mentality that has dragged it down, even when Keith Walwyn fired them up the divisions in the 80s, and which is now coming home to roost. Noone likes a clique.

Whatever. On the field we were rudely awakened to Peter Taylor's lack of ambition away from home. It's a common maxim that has been rattling around football for decades for the simple reason that it is true - always play your best players. Taylor can be excused for leaving Lawrie Dudfield on the bench as the Dude makes his way back from injury. But quite how our management team can concoct a scenario in which leaving Stuart Green on the subs bench is a sound and sensible course of action is, I'm afraid, beyond my footballing ken. Events in the second half strongly suggested that Taylor et al dropped a major bollock on this occasion, and we can file this alongside "dropping Whittle" and "Keates on the left wing" in the lengthening list of crazy managerial decisions in recent weeks. Football managers can be far too clever for their own good sometimes. We all know what our best eleven is Mr Taylor - so bloody well pick 'em all.

So with Green dropped we carded a side more cautious than a shy badger in an ill-fitting 1970s style wide lapel velvet jacket:

Musselwhite
Joseph Whittle Anderson Delaney
Regan Ashbee Keates Melton
Alexander Jevons

So a continuation up front for Alexander - who played OK - and a return for Jevons - who didn't. More of that later. At times Regan dropped back to make a five man defence as York carded a progressive formation that featured three strikers, the ten goal Duffield up the middle, the useless Lee Nogoals on the left and the former Tiger loanee Michael Reddy down the right. Reddy's loan at City was characterised by swanning around with minimal effort and scoring lots of goals from about six inches out after others had done all the hard work. But today he played with pace, hunger and skill and, not for the first time in the last week or two, Delaney was royally shredded into bite sized morsels as Melton looked on.

Melton briefly came alive on the quarter hour, sending Fettis scurrying to his left to palm away a low skimming shot after a Joseph throw had caused panic. (I'd say "Joseph long throw", except Joseph can't throw it very far - time and again City's strikers lined up for a 30 yard chuck only for Marc to cob it 20 at best). Melton chased down a lost cause and won a corner in the far left corner from the City throng of 3,500, but the flagkick failed to deliver a goalscoring opportunity.

As those with weak bladders contemplated the dubious pleasure of locking horns with Bootham Resevoir, otherwise known as the away end gents' urinals, York assumed the ascendancy. City's lack of passing and dribbling skill in midfield was starting to show and York pushed us far too deep for this correspondent's liking. Tiring of skinning Delaney alive, Reddy cantered in-field and after riding 2-3 challenges he wastefully scuffed a good scoring opportunity wide. The on half an hour Alexander was penalised for a combination of a high kick and something else - the identity of the something else will remain shrouded in mystery, but it drew yellow from the ref. From this free kick York worked possession down their left before swinging a deep cross to Hull-born Edmondson, who cut inside the frozen form of Delaney and floated an arcing shot from the corner of the penalty box over the blameless Mussy and into the far side netting. A decent goal that was deserved, given the way that Taylor's mingey tactics ceded the momentum to the home team.

The Tigers continued to creak more than roar. Potter evaded the stationery Delaney and delivered a right wing cross that fell to Nogan, who shot straight at Musselwhite when a precise rolled finished would've been ample to double the lead. Alexander and Jevons were starved of possession as City's "up-and-over" hoofing tactics fell directly into the trap set by Dolan's typically statuesque and well organised back four. Towards the end of the half Keates drove a shot at Fettis after a corner had caused some agricultural flailing in the York six yard box, but one couldn't help but think that a 1-0 lead for the home side was a damage limitation scoreline for the Tigers, such was the imbalance in the play in favour of York.

Changes were needed - to the manager's credit changes were made. Stuart Green came on for the unfortunate Whittle, who had failed to put a foot wrong in the first half and would surely have done a better job at left back than Taylor's dummy Delaney, who made several passable impersonations of Madame Tussauds finest as Reddy readied himself for yet another probing run. And the resurgent Lawrie Dudfield emerged, inexplicably at the expense of the willing Alexander and not the half-hearted Jevons. Jevons' descent to half baked, effort lacking layabout has been swift and sad to report. Perhaps he feels he should have secured a permanent City contract by now - well not on this kind of evidence mate. I imagine that he is heading straight back to Grimsby once Dudfield is returned to full fighting fitness.

So we lined up more attackingly in the second half:

Musselwhite
Regan Joseph Anderson Delaney
Melton Ashbee Keates
Green
Jevons Dudfield

And the results were almost instant. Within seconds of the restart Mussy was flopping onto a loose ball after a York corner caused much flapping and panic. But with our full range of attacking options reinstalled, and with Dudfield looking lean and ready to run until he dropped, we started to exert the upper hand. A couple of openings had been squandered before Green was fed the ball on the right. His slide rule pass fed the mathematically minded Dudfield, Lawrie sent over a delicious cross whose parabolic progress picked out the pouncing Keates, and the ball was rammed past Fettis from six yards. Two in two for the wee man, and the equaliser that our improved formation deserved came early.

We continued to press and York decided, bizarrely, to mirror our first half performance and leave their left back area mostly attended. Mussy cleverly exploited this 2-3 times, and on 57 sent Regan free to run 60 unimpeded yards to the edge of the York box. Carl slid a pass to Jevons whose smart reverse layoff fell back into Regan's path, and the right back lashed a powerful shot that drew a superb diving save by Fettis to his right. Just past the hour York midfielder Smith aimed an ill-advised swipe in the general direction of Ashbee's standing leg and the area where the ball had been 3 seconds earlier. Ashbee was felled and by virtue of a previous trip on Dudfield by the same player five minutes previously, the yellow that was brandished was doubled to a red and first use of the soap. City now had the momentum of play and a numerical advantage and continued to exert pressure, but without making many genuine scoring openings. Just after the sending off Jevons slotted a through ball to the galloping Green who advanced towards Fettis with no defenders in attendance. Alas he refused his shooting chance 25 yards out and instead took a too-heavy touch that allowed Fettis to smother Green's shot from 15 yards when it came. Uncharacteristic lack of cool by the Cumbrian colossus. Melton drew another fine diving save from Fettis after he cleverly swivelled away from his defender on the edge of the box and executed a low drive that had plenty of accuracy but lacked power.

On 71 Keates was felled on the halfway and after lengthy treatment and a 60 second attempt to run it off Deano was replaced by the slimline Andy Holt. Holt went to left back and Delaney advanced to midfield. Between the injury and the substitution Reddy crafted space for himself on the right and swung a dangerous cross into, and out of, the City box, just eluding the attention of strikers in the middle. Holt looked ready for action and combined well to set Dudfield away down the left wing. His fizzing cross evaded Green and Jevons in the centre and fell to the advanced Regan beyond the far post who clobbered a tremendous shot just wide of Fettis's right hand post. As the game drew to a close petulance set in, Jevons and Joseph seeing yellow along with York's Cowan. Nogan galloped clear and advanced on Mussy only for Anderson to improvise a last ditch clearance. In the closing seconds Jevons curled a shot just high and wide and in injury time Melton was gifted a glorious opening from 18 yards after dodgy York defending, only for the ex-Brighton midfielder to melt on sight of the ball and sky a left foot swish high, wide and not-at-all-handsome.

Despite the first half ascendancy for the home side, one can't help but conclude that our second half domination and numerical advantage should have seen us kill off the Minstermen and claim all three points. I am a great advocate of the "win yer home games, draw yer away games" path to promotion, but surely this was an occasion when our dominance should've been converted into more than one point. With Green on and an attacking mentality from the off, one can't help but feel that a win was there for the taking.

As we enter a new calendar year in this Hull City odyssey, let's review our squad so far. Anderson is a quality acquisition who is now first on the teamsheet, while Whittle has let no-one down despite his recent rough-handed treatment. Joseph looks a decent larker, but doesn't rate in the "pulling up trees" category. Regan is an OK defender and an excellent overlapping full-back. Delaney has slid rapidly during December after a decent first five games and is now scarcely worth his place. Holt impressed for 20 minutes today, perhaps he deserves another try, while the hugely promising Burton is correctly being eased through his opening football league footsteps after a wonderful debut against Rochdale. Shaun Smith is a disgrace who should leave the club. Edwards and Strong are returning from injury and must wait their turn to get first team action.

In midfield we have seen consistency, strength in the tackle and adept passing from Ashbee and Keates, in the latter's case after a hugely unimpressive start away at Hartlepool. Ashbee is perhaps our runner-up player of the season so far, alongside Anderson. Williams has done OK with his chances before getting cropped, while Melton has shown flashes of skill alongside flashes of total arse-lacking-ness and long periods of absence. The jury is still out on Melton, but the signs are Lawfordesque so far. Appleby has presumably, in the style of Elvis, left the building - perhaps with sixteen cheeseburgers in his guts.

Up front is where the problems lie. Alexander's form has yo-yoed this season and it is difficult to see him sustaining a run of form that lifts him above average. He needs to get his head down, put his pet lip in, stop living when challenged and work through this bad spell - he'll be a great player again when he comes through the other side. Elliott is now showing signs of his pre-season (and pre-injury) form and is set to be one of division's dominant forces in the new year. Jevons started OK and got much worse, and now barely merits keeping on loan. Dudfield is recovering from surgery and, based on the 50 minutes of play we have seen this week, looks hungry and strong as well as supremely skilled. Branch was treemendous until Wolves twigged, and he boughed out. Bradshaw has gone backwards in career terms.